True love -- ETHINA -- Ethan and Kristina
by brady66
Summary: This is set right after the time that Kristina (played by Lexi) left for college. This is how it should have played out...Ethan and Kristina were meant to be ***I own nothing GH related**
1. Chapter 1

Heather's fan fiction part 1

Kristina had just sat thru another class at Yale, being whispered about and made fun of for what her father does for a living and what he did to get her into Yale. She was not paying attention to anything around her. All of a sudden somebody came up behind her and threw something black over her head and picked her up. She could tell that she was being put in a car but had no idea who had her. "Let me go, let me out of here right now" she screamed.  
"Do you know who my father is, he will kill you for this". All she got back was a female laugh...an evil, scheming laugh. "Like I care who your father is, he is no concern of mine". She then took the hood off of Kristina. Kristina's eyes started to focus, she was in the back of a limo, sitting across from Helena Cassadine. She jumped back a little bit and asked "why did you kidnap me? What do you want from me?" "I don't want nothing from you, you are  
nothing but an illegitimate Cassadine" "then what are you doing all this for" Kristina asks. "I am going to use you. I need Ethan to come to me and you are one of the only people that he cares about. I know that he will drop everything, come out of hiding for you" Helena states. Kristina gets this knot in her stomach, she is scared about what Helena is going to do to her, but she is more worried about what she is going to do to Ethan.

Ethan is hiding from Helena is a small town in Ireland, working as a bartender. He is closing up shop and hoping that this last customer would leave. The guy at the end of the bar gets a phone call, all Ethan hears is him saying "yes, ok"then the guy hands the phone to Ethan and says "she would like to speak to you" Ethan says "hello" and on the other end he hears Helena state "Oh Ethan, how I have missed you. You have kept me on my toes looking for you. It has been a fun ride but this has to end now. You will go with this guy and have him bring you to me". Ethan responds back "why in the world would I ever do that?" Helena cackles and states "because if you don't, I will pull every single strand of brown hair out of Kristina's pretty little head" and she grabs Kristina's hair which makes her scream "AAHHHH Ethan don't do it!" Ethan screams in the phone "bitch if you hurt one part of her I will kill you!" to which Helena replies "well you better hurry up then" and hangs up the phone.

Ethan's heart dropped and his blood was boiling. The goon tried to grab his arm to get him to go and Ethan swung his arm free. "I can walk myself" he stated...all he while trying to think about how he was going to get Kristina out of this safely...his anger rising.


	2. Chapter 2

Heather's fan fiction part 2

Hours later, Ethan arrives with the hired goon to a secluded cabin, on an island in the middle of nowhere. The ocean so blue that Ethan would have wanted a beach chair and a drink if he was not focused on finding Kristina. Ethan walks into the cabin and finds Helena waiting. "Oh Ethan, still as handsome as ever" Helena purrs, rubbing her hands up and down his chest. "where is Kristina" Ethan demands! "Show her to me now, so I know that she is ok". Helena  
nods to another goon and he walks to another room and opens the door, out runs Kristina, shaken and scared. Her eyeslock on Ethan's and she runs to him. "Oh I wish you haden't come, but I am glad to see you" "she is going to kill us" Kristina cries. "Do not worry, I will get us out of this" Ethan says trying to comfort her. "oh this is just so touching" Helena says "so what are you going to do with us now?" Ethan demands. Helena struts off with one of the goons on her arm, turns around and states "oh you will see" and closes the door, locking both of them in. Ethan walks Kristina to the couch and sits her down. "are you ok" he worries, looking her all over to make sure there are no marks or wounds. "i am fine, just scared" she explains. "you have nothing to be scared of  
anymore, I am here, I will get us out of this" Ethan states. "oh you have a plan" Kristina wonders. Ethan cracks a little smirk and looks right at her and states "oh I am sure I can think of something". He then gets up and starts checking out the room. Nothing to fancy, just a room in a cabin with a view of the ocean. He can see a small boat docked by the cabin, so he puts that thought into his escape plan. He asks Kristina "how do you feel about being a distraction  
with the guard?" Kristina stands up, looks in the mirror, fixes her hair and turns with a seductive smile and states"I think I can handle that" before Ethan could think he blurts out "I bet you can, your beautiful". "really, you think I am beautiful" she asks befuddled. "oh course I do, just never realized how much till now" he states. They just stand there staring at eachother, till Kristina knocks some sense back into herself and states "ok, let's get this show on the road". Ethan hides behind the door and Kristina lets out a blood curdiling scream. The goon comes in to see what is wrong and Ethan clocks him over the head. Without another breath he grabs Kristina's hand and they run for their lives. They run all the way to the boat with a couple of goons on their tale. Ethan paddles his way in the ocean for a long time. They start to think that maybe they will never find land again, and then they see it. The edge of land. Ethan and Kristina get the boat to land and find themselves in the middle of a resort. **LUCKY**

Kristina and Ethan hug each other as they get onto land and realize they are safe at the moment. Ethan looks at Kristina and tells her "I was so scared when I got the phone call about you, I was scared that Helena would hurt you, that I would not get there in time to save you". "you did, do not worry Ethan" Kristina insists. Ethan takes her face in his hands, looking into her eyes and says "if anything would have happened to you, I do not know what I would have done" and with that, he leans in and kisses her. They both pull away and give each other a loving look and with that he kisses her again, picks her up off of the ground and holds her tight. Both are so happy to be safe...not knowing that a goon was watching from nearby. Waiting for the chance to  
take that happiness away...


	3. Chapter 3

Heather's fan fiction part 3

It felt like time stopped to Kristina when Ethan kissed her, and she was still thinking about it hours later while trying to pick something out to wear to dinner. Did he really mean it or was it just a relief reaction she worried. Had he really wanted to kiss her or would he have kissed anybody at that moment? Ethan had used one of his fake credit cards to book them a room at the resort for a few days and to buy them some clothes to wear before they decide to either head back to Port Charles or continue to hide longer. She could not stop thinking about how it felt when he touched her, when his lips touched hers, this time he just didn't barely kiss her, like the time she kissed him. This time there was more, there had to be more she thought. He kissed her with more feeling and passion than anything she had ever felt.

Kristina picked out a beautiful sundress, and was brushing her hair when she thought back to the kiss again. "snap out of it girl" she tells herself in the mirror. "act normal in front of him, you don't want him thinking you cannot handle this". She takes a second look at herself in the mirror, takes a deep breath and prepares to open the bathroom door, knowing that on the other side is Ethan.

She opens the door, steps out and her breath is gone. He looks so amazing with his hair down and wavy. Ethan walks over to her, and just stares at her. "you looks so beautiful, like the sunset" he says to her while he takes her hand. Ethan cannot believe how amazing she looks, how grown up she has become just over the few months he has not seen her. He can tell that she has been thru more than what he knows by looking into her eyes, he was wondering why she didn't want to call her family, he is sure he will find out what all is going on, but he is not going to pressure her now. He has so much to tell her too, but right now, this is about their present, not their past.

"Ethan, what did the kiss mean" Kristina blurts out. She had wanted to be casual about it, but this is Ethan, she can talk to him about anything and he can read her like a book so she knew she could not worry about it all night, he would know. "did you really want to kiss me or was it just happiness?" "I know you think that I am to young, you have told me to not be interested in you, that we were never going to be anything but friends, and we were scared and relieved to find land so I would"...before she could finish, Ethan grabs her again and kisses her. This time was just as amazing as the first time. "I wouldn't have kissed you if I didn't want to" Ethan whispers in her ear. "I didn't realize how much I cared about you till I came close to losing you, and seeing you again, looking so beautiful, I was so totally stupid to have not admited it sooner to you" he told her. "Johnny saw it, and he told me, but I just could not see it" he said. Kristina looks at him, then kicks him in the leg. "ouch, what was that for" Ethan exclaimed. "i have told you before to stop calling yourself stupid" she said and then busts out laughing. "ok, I will work on that" he smiles and runs his hand thru his hair. "let's go find something to eat and see what trouble we can get into" as he grabs her hand. Kristina knows she is in for a wild ride and she could not wait. She has wanted this since she first saw him at Jake's and they have been thru so much already. "Let's do this" she says to him as she pulls him down to her to kiss him again.


	4. Chapter 4

Heather's fan fiction part 4

Kristina and Ethan fall back into the room. They have spent the evening eating and laughing. Totally forgetting about the kidnapping and Helena for a few hours. "oh my, I am so full Ethan" Kristina exclaims. Ethan laughs, thinking the same thing. Settling back on the couch, Kristina looks at Ethan and asks "so tell me, what has been going on with you since we last saw each other?" Ethan draws his breath, he really didn't want to talk about the lie about Luke not being his father and him being a Scorpio but he know that if he could talk to anybody it and trust anybody it would be Kristina. As Ethan lays out everything that happend, Kristina cannot believe what she is hearing. She just sits there and listens, listens about Robert/Holly/Helena and Luke. Learns about Cassandra (gag me she thinks) and why he left Port Charles. "so obviously Helena didn't believe the lie" she states "since she kidnapped me to find you". Ethan touches her hair, thinking about what could have happened to her. "well we stopped that didn't we" he said. "yeah we did, we are a good team" she responds. "so Kristina, tell me about Yale, what is going on there? Are you aceing all of your classes?" Kristina knew this question was coming so she just releases "well it was all going great till about the middle of the semester. I would notice people whispering when I was around. At first I thought it was my imagination but then one day I was told what it was about" "well what was it" Ethan asked. "my dad bought my way into Yale!" "they saw me as an undeserving person who stole somebody elses spot" she started crying. Ethan just looked at her, how could she think that she was not worth of that spot, how could those horrible people treat her that way? "you did deserve that spot" he told her as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She fell onto his shoulder and sobbed "it has been so hard Ethan, you have no idea how hard it was to keep my head up". "I was just about to go meet this grad student with an idea of a reality show before I was kidnapped" she went on. "what kind of reality show" Ethan asked curiously. "he wanted to do a reality show about a mobster's daughter" she started. Ethan busted out laughing "that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard!" Kristina starts laughing right along with him "I know, right" she says. Now they are both just laughing again. Kristina realizes that they are having another perfect moment and does not want it to end. Looking at Ethan she says "thank you so much for saving me, for taking care of me, for everything that you have done for me. You are my hero" "Kristina, you are absolutley amazing" and as he reaches for her they are both shocked back to reality by a knock on the door. Damn, Ethan thought. Who can that be? "who is it" he asks..."room service" is the reply. "we didn't order anything" he states. "this is on the house for renting the room" "champagne and strawberries"...Kristina thinks awesome. So Ethan opens the door and the cart is wheeled in. As the server leaves, Ethan notices a note on the cart. "what is that?" Kristina asks. Ethan reads it, turns white and drops the note, he cannot believe it! Kristina picks the note up and reads "you think you can run and hide, i will always find you. You will give me what I want or I will take what is most important to you. You better hold onto that bastard offspring's daughter as tight as you can...H" Kristina just looks at Ethan, he has this look on his face. She used to love this look, it was his brooding, angry, protective look that he got when he was protecting her, but now she was worried, she was worried about what he would do this time "Ethan it will be ok" she shakes out, not sure where the words came from. He looks back over at her, flames in his eyes, grabs her and holds her close "she will not get close to you again, not if I have anything to do with it". That is what I am afraid of...she thought


	5. Chapter 5

Part 5

Ethan couldn't believe it, his mind was running a mile a minute...focus, he had to get Kristina out of there now. "ok, let's go, we need to get you out of here and away from me, get you home to your father so he can protect you" he said to her. "no way Ethan, I am not leaving you. I am safer with you then away from you" Kristina answered. He knew that tone and he knew it was no use to fight and he had to admit that he didn't want her to go anywhere. He would not be able to concentrate if he did not know for himself that she was safe. "we are going to get thru this together Ethan, we are stronger together than apart" she said as she took his hand. "ok, so we need to get out of here, and we need to make it fast" he told her. Kristina ran into the bedroom to put what little clothes they had in a bag and Ethan made arrangements to get them out of town ASAP. He used fake names and booked them two tickets on a train. He thought they would go till they got to a stop that looked good and get off there. "Ethan, should we disguise ourselves" Kristina asked from the bedroom. "we really do not have time for that, so we just gotta wing it" "ok, let's roll" she said as she came running out of the room. They took off for the train station, Ethan constantly looking behind him for any sign of a hired goon. They made it to the train station easy, too easy he thought. But he was not going to let Kristina know he was worried. They boarded the train and found their way to the dining car. "if we stay where there is a lot of people, we should be ok" Kristina said. They both took a seat beside eachother and Kristina laid her head on Ethan's chest. He put his arm around her "go ahead and rest, I will keep an eye out" he said. He had to admit that her curled up beside of him made him so glad that she didn't say yes to leaving him. He didn't want to stay on the run by himself anymore, but he hated dragging her into this. She has so much more important things she is supposed to be doing, she was so much better than him. "what are you thinking about" she asked him, turning her head from his chest to look up at him. "i was just thinking about how you are so much better than all of this, how you deserve better than being stuck in the middle of this with me". She just looked at him, her eyes staring right into his, with more feeling than anybody else had ever looked at him "Ethan, I am not better than you and I am not stuck in this. I could have gone home, I could have hid behind my daddy, but I choose to be here with you, to stand by your side thru all of this. You have always been there for me and I feel safer beside of you than I would ever feel behind one of my father's bodyguards". "Why are you so amazing to me Kristina?" he asked. She could not believe that he didn't know why, she had told him over and over, he had to have known this..."because that is what you do when you love somebody you fool". Ethan could not believe what she had said that, how could somebody like her love him. She was going places and he was going back to run another con. "you don't love me Kristina, you couldn't love me" he said, turning away from her as he could not look at her. She grabbed his face and turned him back to her, face to face. "of course I love you, I have always loved you. You were my best friend, my rock, my protector. I could tell you anything and you would listen and not judge and you are not hard to look at either" she said with a coy smile. Her words hit him hard. "I love you too" he blurted out. He had no idea where the words came from but he knew they were true. How could he not love her, she had supported him, defended him, saw him for what he was and still stuck around. He felt it way down deep in his soul, it was deeper than anything he had ever felt for Maya or Cassandra or anybody else before. He looked at Kristina and her eyes were sparkling with such happiness and love he could do nothing more than kiss her, and he did kiss her, passionatly and firey, he could not stop himself. Kristina could not believe what was happening, that it all was true and real and not some dream of hers. "Ethan, we should stop, people are staring" she said as Ethan kissed her neck, but she really didn't want him to stop. She finally got her hero and nobody was going to take him away


	6. Chapter 6

Ethan and Kristina decided to get off of the train in New Orleans. Ethan loved the city and thought it would be the perfect place to hide for a little while. He also had a friend there that he knew he could trust to hide them for a few days. Kristina had never been there before and could not believe everything she was seeing in the city. I could learn to like it here she thought to herself, looking at Ethan. When they got to the door of Ethan's friends house, i was way back in the swampy part of town, Kristina thought they had been walking for hours and was happy to finally be there, even though she really didn't know where "there" was. The house looked all ghostly and haunted, kinda like an old time horror movie. Ethan must have seen the look on her face because he grabbed her hand and said "Don't worry, this is my friend Dimiti's home. He will be cool" Ethan walked up to the door and knocked, trying to ignore the "all trespassers will be shot" sign hanging on the door. "who's there?" a man's voice called from behind the door..."an old friend" Ethan replied back. With a jolt the door opened and out popped this tall, dark, handsome man. Kristina thought he looked like one of the roman gods she had learned about at Yale. "ETHAN my man, how the hell have you been?" grabbing Ethan for a hug. "I've been better Dim" he replied back. "we are in trouble and need your help"..."We" Dimitri stated. "yeah, we" Ethan said pulling Kristina up next to him. "well my my" pushing Ethan away "what a pretty thing you are. What is your name my dear" he asked. "Kristina" she said, trying to be friendly but not really sure what to think about him "that is such a beautiful name for such a beautiful woman, why is somebody so lovely as you hanging out with a con man like Ethan" "you should be hanging out with somebody like me instead" he said to her as he went in for a hug. Ethan's insides started to burn with jealousy, he knew that Dimitri was just doing this to get his goat but he could not stop it, somebody flirting with Kristina made his blood boil. "why would she want a mediocre con man when she can have the best" Ethan said, putting his arm out to stop him from hugging Kristina and moving in between them. "haha, I gotcha man, she is your woman" Kristina filled with pride with being called his woman, she loved it and put her arm around Ethan's waist. "So how can I help you old friend?" Dimitri asked. "we need a place to hide for a few days" Ethan explained. "we are being chased and just need to hide out somewhere were nobody can find us" "I think we can handle that here, come on inside, make yourself comfortable" Dimitri said. "the ghosts in the woods will keep most of the people away" he continued...ghosts, seriously Kristina thought. "I only have one guest room, so you will have to share" Dimitri said. "that will be fine Dimitri, thank you so much for doing this for us" Kristina answered him. He lead them both to the room "get some rest and we can catch up later old friend" he said to Ethan and shook his hand. Ethan had to admit that rest sounded really good to him right now, as did a shower. Dimitri let Ethan take a shower in his bathroom while Kristina took one in the guest bathroom. Kristina was already laying in bed when Ethan got out. He could not believe his eyes, looking at her laying there. She looked like an angel, a beautiful, peaceful angel. He tried getting into bed as softly as he could to not wake her up, "do you feel better now" she said softly. "so much better, I'm sorry I didn't mean to wake you" he said back, putting his arm around her neck. "it is ok" she said, nuzzeling herself onto his chest "i would much rather fall asleep like this" she said. Ethan had to admit he liked it as well. He felt like finally he could relax enough to sleep, so he leaned down, kissed Kristina on the head and slowly fell asleep, listening to Kristina's soft breathing...


	7. Chapter 7

Ethan awoke to sounds coming from the kitchen, Kristina laughing hysterically at something Dimitri had said to her. "oh this cannot be good" he said while smiling to himself. He walked out into the room "good morning Ethan" Kristina exclaimed thru her giggles. "what is so funny" he asked her back. "oh Dimitri was just telling me about the time you two conned a couple wealthy ladies out of their money playing poker in Australia. "Yeah, I told her how you played them both with your never played poker in my life routine". "don't tell her stories like that" "Kristina, that is so not true" he tried to protest, but looking at Kristina he realized that he didn't have to hide his past from her, because she already knew what he did for a living and she loved him anyway. "oh please Ethan" she said to him. "I am sure those woman were just flattered to have you both all over them" and she started laughing again. "want some eggs" Dimitri said. "sure" Ethan responded and sat down at the kitchen table. "so how long have you two been together" Dimitri asked Ethan, but looking at Kristina. "well, I have had a crush on Ethan for awhile now, but he always thought I was too young for him" she said with a little smirk on her face. "Seriously Ethan? Come on now" Dimitri just looked at him, with a (you must be totally stupid) look on his face. "yes, I know, I was dumb, I was blind, I wasted so much time fooling myself and trying to convince myself that I did not having feelings for her, it took her getting kidnapped for me to wake up" Ethan said. "KIDNAPPED?" Dim questioned. "yeah, that is why we are on the run, guess we should fill you in on that story now"


	8. Chapter 8

"WOW" was all Dimitri could manage to say when Ethan and Kristina got done telling him their story. "So, let me get this straight, your grandmother kidnapped you to get Ethan to come to her", pointing at Kristina "because she has had a vendetta with your father for years and now wants to kill you because he killed her son" pointing at Ethan "and you are Sonny Corinthos' daughter?, the Sonny Corrinthos'" pointing at Kristina again. "Yeah mate, that is about the jist of it all" Ethan responded back. "WOW" "that is quite a story, why didn't you just go back home, I am sure you would have been safe there?" "It would not have worked out, to much stuff going on there" Kristina replied back. "ok, gotcha, so what is your next move going to be man?" Dim asked him. "well I was hoping you would let us hang around here for a few days so I can get a real plan in motion" Ethan responded. "no problem, you know my house is your  
house whenever you need it" he replied back. Later on that afternoon Kristina asked "is there a place around here to buy some clothes? I need a few more things than what we left the with". "yes, there is a little place at the end of the road, we can head out after dark" Dim replied back. They all headed out a few hours later...walking down the road Ethan took Kristina's hand and she felt this heat come over her as did Ethan. Once they got to the shop she said "i will be only a few minutes, why don't you both go get a drink at the bar next door and I will come and meet you?" "are you sure Krissy" Ethan said. "of course, it will all be fine, I know how to blend in". No way you could ever blend in with as beautiful as you are Ethan thought to himself. Ethan and Dimitri found a couple of bar stools and sat down, ordering a few beers. Ethan was looking around the place, he thought it was pretty cool, kinda like a bar he would like to run someday when out of nowhere this very provocativly dressed female came over to both of them. "how would you handsome fellas like to buy a girl a drink" she said. Dimitri laughed seeing that she was drunk already and said "sure, do you want a water?" "oh please boy I am sure you can do better than that" she replied then turned to look at Ethan. "what about you, you know what kind of drink to buy a lady I am sure" rubbing her hand on his arm. "my apologies madam but I am waiting for somebody and she would get very angry if I bought you a drink" he replied back to her. "oh what kind of lady would leave a guy like you waiting" she said. Only the best he was about to reply but he had no time as the lady grabbed him and laid one on him, directly on the lips and it was just at that moment he heard "Ethan!" "what the hell is going on here" he didn't even have to look to know it was Kristina. He saw her with tears in her eyes, he pushed the lady off of him as she turned and bolted out the door. "Kristina, Kristina come back" he yelled after her. Kristina didn't know where she was going, she could barely see anything thru her tears. She started running up the street, she could hear Ethan behind her yelling for her, but she was not stopping. She just could not get that picture out of her head. She could still hear him yelling "kristina come on and stop" and she stopped just about the time that a black van pulled up beside of her. She knew what was going to happen before it did, she looked back at Ethan, he was still to far away to stop it. The van opened up and one of Helena's goons jumped out and grabbed her. She kicked and screamed but it was no use, he was to strong. Ethan saw what was happening and he and Dimitri ran as fast as they could but they got to the van just as Kristina was pulled in and the van door shut, he saw the look in her eyes when the door shut. "KRISTINA" he yelled at the top of his voice as the van drove away, as it did, the man in the front seat dropped a letter out the window. Dimitri went and picked it up. It was addressed to Ethan. Ethan's thoughts were going a mile a minute, the rage building up inside of him, he had to get Kristina back now. "Dim, we have to find her now, I have to get her back, we have to save her. You have no idea what Helena is capable of" he said. "what does the note say?" Dim asked. It read: Ethan my precious, I have something of value to you which I know you want back. No harm will come to her if you show up within two hours to the Castle Inn of New Orleans, but if you do not show, there will be nothing left of her to find later and you know I do not lie, I killed my own daughter remember. Ethan's heart dropped and he looked at Dim..."what is the Castle Inn?" he asked. It is one of the most haunted places in New Orleans. "ok let's go" Ethan demanded "we have to go now, I have to get to Kristina, I cannot let anything happen to her, I can't let her be in that place with her". "ok, let's think this thru man, we cannot just go barrelling in, we need a plan" Dim said as the voice of reason. Yeah right, a plan, Ethan thought. But how can he think of a plan, the girl he loved was just taken from him, he could not deal with the hurt that he knew he had caused her right before and the horror that he knew she was feeling now. He had to get to her, rescue her. He knew he could not rest till she was back in his arms where she belonged. "ok Dim" he said, voice full of desperation "let's figure out a plan"


	9. Chapter 9

Heather's fan fiction part 9

Ethan and Dim crept up to one of the side entrances of the Castle Inn. In the moonlight, it looked extremely spooky. "Man I hope she is ok, what if something happened to her, I will kill Helena, snap out of it Ethan", he said to himself. I have to focus. He looked at Dim, he was so glad that he came with him to help with this. His thoughts went back to Kristina, wondering if she was ok, what she was thinking. It was at that moment two goons came up behind them and pointed guns at them. "come with us now" they ordered Dim and Ethan.

Kristina was sitting in one of the rooms by herself. She knew she had to find a way out because Ethan would give himself up to Helena to save her and she could not let that happen. She could not let him sacrifice himself for her. She decided she was going to try the same tactic they did on the island, but instead of screaming this time, she decided she was going to flirt. She took a look at herself in the mirror, fixed her hair, wiped her makeup from where she had been crying. She unbuttoned her top to show her bra, took a deep breath and walked over to the door. **knock knock** she knocked on the door and stepped back. One of the hired goon's opened the door to her and looked her up and down. Good she thought, he was already hooked. "hey, would you mind getting me a drink of water, it is really hot in here" she said as she wiped her chest with her hand. The goon shut the door behind himself and came toward Kristina. "what, see something that you like" she asked him as she lead him to the couch. "I really do" was his reply. She sat down on the couch and he followed, she was a little scared because he was getting so close to her but she sucked it up and kept going. "would you like to kiss me" she asked him coyly. "I will do more than just kiss you" he raged, grabbing her arm and forcing himself close to her. She saw her opportunity and took the vase off of the table and knocked him out cold. She grabbed his gun and was about to make a run for it when she heard noises coming from the hallway. "where is Kristina, take me to her" and "get the hell off of me" damn she thought, they have Ethan and Dimitri. Ok think Kristina…..she ran and hid behind the closet door. Helena came in with two of her goons holding onto Ethan and Dimitri. "where did that little brat go" when she saw her goon on the floor and Kristina gone. Ethan started fighting more, screaming for Kristina at the top of his voice. "ok Kristina " she said to herself, "it is now or never" and she swung the door open and put the gun to Helena's head "you let them go now or I will blow your brains out" she demanded. Helena started laughing "please child, you do not know the first thing about guns, your mommy would have never allowed that". "I would not be so sure" she said back to her "Jason taught me and Michael how to shoot and trust me" she said cocking the trigger "I don't miss". Ethan had seen that look in her eyes before, but it was not from Kristina, it was the look that Sonny had when he was about to blow his head off when he thought he had beaten up Kristina. He had never realized how much she was like her father till at that moment. "I have nothing to lose, you are going to kill us if I don't anyway, so what is it going to be Granny" she asked Helena. "Don't call me Granny" she relied back. "ok grandma, that better for ya?" Kristina replied snarky. "ok, let them go" she said to her goons "we can finish this another day" she said. "No" Kristina stated back, gun still to Helena's head. "this ends now! Whatever vendetta you have against Luke, that is not between me and Ethan" "you want Luke, go find him and continue whatever game you have going on, you keep us out of it". "Agreed" Helena replied. Guess she values her life more than we thought, Ethan thought to himself. The goons let Ethan and Dim go and Kristina walked over to them. No time for hugging at the moment, she backed herself out of the room, gun still on Helena. Once the door was shut they took off running. They ran all the way back to Dim's house and that is when Ethan grabbed Kristina, he did not want to let her go, he was so happy to have her back. "this guy was so worried about you Kristina" Dim said while Ethan was still hugging Kristina. "I have never seen him act that way before, normally he is so calm. He must really love you" he told her. "I'm going to give you guys some time alone, I will be back in awhile" he said and left the house.

"He's right Kristina" Ethan said. "I could not concentrate on anything but getting you back". "I know, Ethan, I was so scared but I knew I had to take control of the situation" she started to say but Ethan interrupted her with a kiss, a long, firey, steaming kiss. "you were so strong, so amazing in there Kristina! You didn't back down at all" he told her in between kisses. "I had to Ethan" she said. "Helena was going to kill you and there was no way I was going to let that happen, I love you too much to let that even be a possibility, so I did what I had to do" she said and she went back to kissing him. "I love you too" he said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and he picked her up. He carried her into the bedroom and laid her on the bed. Ethan didn't want to stop himself, he wanted to touch all over her, but he asked her "are you sure" to which she replied "absolutely" and with that Ethan kissed her again and…..


	10. Chapter 10

Kristina could not believe this was happening, the feel of Ethan's hands touching her, she wanted to lose herself in this moment. Ethan could not believe it either, was this the same girl that only a year ago he tried to convince himself he did not have feelings for? This girl, this beautiful, amazing, breathtaking girl, but she was not a girl, she was a woman, a full grown woman, how could he have wasted all that time trying to talk himself out of it and turning her attention away. He ravaged her, making up for all of that lost time, examining every part of her body with firey lust. When he unbuttoned her top he looked at her with such hunger that Kristina lost all thought. It was in that moment she gave herself up to him totally. Later on that night Ethan and Kristina laid in bed snuggled beside each other "I love you Kristina" Ethan told her. Kristina took a second to just let those words sink in, those words that she had wanted to hear for so long, she was really here, this was really her life with Ethan in it, it was not a dream. "I love you too Ethan, more than you ever could know" she replied back as she looked up at him and kissed him. "you were so awesome today, my little firecracker" he told her with a sly smile. "at which time" she teased to which he started tickling her till she screamed. "ok, so tell me the truth, did Jason really teach you how to use a gun?" he said laughing. "of course he didn't. He took Michael out and Michael showed me a few things, but I doubt I could have actually shot her" she said back with a smirk "but Granny didn't know that did she". Ethan just started laughing hysterically. "Ok, so I am starving Ethan, think Dim has anything to eat out there?" Kristina asked thru her laughter. "let's go see, I never did hear him come home" Ethan replied. "Maybe he went out and found somebody lucky to love like we did" she said back, putting her arms around his stomach and looking up at him "he will never be this lucky" he replied back, and with that he picked her up over his shoulder and carried her out into the kitchen while she playfully screamed for him to put her down. "now let's see what he has here to eat" he exclaimed as he looked thru the cabinets. "Ethan, let's not go back to Port Charles for awhile, let's go and see the world" she said. It startled Ethan to hear her ask such a thing. "you don't want to go home Krissy?" "You know your parents are going to be worried about you". "They will be fine" she said back. "I want to see all the places you have seen. I want to see the world with you". Ethan couldn't believe what she was asking, a part of him knew that she should go home and try to go back to college but an even bigger part wanted her all to himself for a while and wanted to show her all the amazing places in the world and that part won. He dropped the pot he had in his hand and went over to her, per his hands on her face so he could look her right in her eyes. "Ok, I would love to show you the world, but you have to understand it will not be all sunshine and roses, you know I will need to run cons to get us money to survive and take odd jobs, will you be ok with not living in the lifestyle you are used too" Kristina giggled and put her hands on his face as well "Ethan, where ever you are is where I want to be, I do not care if we are dirt poor as long as I have you" and she kissed him. "Ok, just one stipulation, you have to call your mom, you have to let her know you are ok" he insisted. Kristina really did not want to call home, but she knew that Ethan would not let her go till she did. "ok Ethan, I will call" and with that Ethan went over and got the phone and handed it to her. This was not going to be a fun call she thought as she started to dial the number…..


	11. Chapter 11

Ethan took a shower while Kristina called her mother. All he could do while the water dripped down him was think about Kristina and how they got to where they were now. It has been a crazy, whilwind ride, he thought. He was hoping that the conversation between Alexis and Kristina was going ok, not to much yelling and screaming. He got out of the shower and when he went into the living room, Kristina was on the couch looking off in a daze, he could tell that she had been crying. "Love, are you ok" he asked her softly and sat beside her. "well, she was upset, she was angry, but I told her what I thought of how they got me into Yale and that I was taking some time for myself" she told him. "how did she take that" he asked. "well she was not happy about it till I told her I was with you, then she actually seemed to calm down a little bit" Wow, that was really uncharacteristic of Alexis he thought. "so is she ok now". "well she begged me to come home" she said and at that moment Ethan got this pang in his stomach, like he had been kicked. "what did you tell her" he asked, looking at her with this begging look that Kristina could not believe. "Ethan, I am staying here with you, this is where I am meant to be at the moment, maybe I will go back to Yale, but right now I want this" she said as she took his hand. "are you sure, you are giving up so much" he replied back. He wanted to make sure he knew what she was doing. "it is not as much as I would be giving up if I left here and left you behind" she said as she leaned in and kissed him. The pangs in Ethan's stomach turned to mush right there..."ok" he said as he ran his fingers thru his hair, which Kristina LOVED "where would you like to go first?" Kristina wanted to go someplace special to Ethan, someplace he loved "where is one of your favorite places in the world" she asked but before Ethan could answer Dim came popping thru the door "good morning mates" he greeted both of them happily "I take it you both had yourself a glorious night? Kristina and Ethan both looked at each other and smiled "Good, Good I see" Dim said looking at them with a smirk. "did you have yourself a great night as well Dim" Kristina asked. "yes, I did, thanks for asking little lady" "Kristina has decided to stay with me for awhile Dim" Ethan started "so we will be leaving here soon so we do not overstay our welcome." "buddy, that is just what I was going to talk to you about, I met a man last night that has a job for me in Hawaii but it is a two person con and I immediatly thought of you" he said to Ethan. "well is it dangerous, because I do not want to get involved with something dangerous after what we just went thru and with Kristina with us" he replied back. "I will let you both talk this thru and I am going to go take a shower" Kristina said as she walked over to Ethan. She leaned in and whispered "I'm all for it" kissed him on the cheek and went into the bathroom. Hawaii she thought as she took her shower would be magic. The ocean, the scenery and Ethan...


	12. Chapter 12

After Ethan got done talking to Dim about the job, he decided to call Luke. He had a lot to fill him in on and wanted to make sure that he was safe as well from Helena. When he could not get in touch with him on the special number Luke gave him, he got worried and called Lulu. When she answered he knew there was something wrong. "Ethan, Dad was shot and is in the hospital" she started. "Is he going to be ok" Ethan interupted. "yes, it was scary there for a minute but he is ok now" she responded. "that is good to hear, so tell me what happened and what has been going on" he said and with that Lulu filled him in on everything, from Heather Webber kidnapping Luke, almost killing Olivia and Anna and shooting Luke. "Heather Webber" he said, "is she related to Liz?" Lulu just laughed and said "yeah she is Steve's real mom" to which Ethan could just reply "daaaaammmmn". She also filled Ethan in on the new club she and Johnny opened. "you know you have a job whenever you want it brother" she said to which Ethan laughed "I will take you up on it someday" he replied. She told him about Johnny and Carly being together to which Ethan really had no real reply. All he could keep saying was "Johhny and Carly?" Seriously?" She also told him about their new singer Starr and that she is with Michael now "oh, I am sure Kristina is going to be interested to hear about that, I will have to tell her" Ethan said "Kristina?" Lulu questioned so Ethan filled her in on everything that had happened so far and how he and Kristina were now together "I knew it! She exclaimed, "I always knew it was her you were talking about when we would have our conversations, Dante could see it too. I am so happy for you both, that you found love thru all of this" "thanks sis" he said. He was happy too, happier than he had ever been "now you two be safe and come and see us soon, I miss you so much Ethan, with you and Lucky both gone, I miss my brothers" she told him. "I miss you too, and don't worry, you will see us again" "tell Luke I said to get well soon and to watch his back and tell Dante and Johnny hi for me and tell Johnny if he messes up this deal with you he  
will answer to me" he told her. Lulu laughed and said "I will, take care Ethan, miss you and love you" "right back at you sis" he said and hung up the phone. He sat for a minute and then went to find Kristina, he had to fill her in on everything that was going on. He found her sitting on the back porch just staring off into the swampy forest behind the house. Man she looked beautiful, the moonlight reflecting off of her hair and skin. He felt so lucky.

"hey love" he said to her and sat down next to her "I just got off the phone with Lulu" "is everything ok?" she asked. "well Luke was shot" he replied "what, what do you mean shot? Is he ok? Do we need to go back home now? We can go right if you want too" she said with disbelief. "no, it is ok" he said grabbing her hands. "he is going to be ok" "thank goodness" she replied back. "well there is more" he started and then filled Kristina in on everything. The more he told her, the more her face went from shock (somebody with the last name Webber shooting Luke) to happiness (Lulu and Johnny turning the Haunted Star into a nightclub" to concern "what do you mean Michael is dating somebody by the name of Starr? What is she another stripper with a name like that?" she said. So Ethan told her about what happened to Starr and how Michael had been there for her "wow" she said "that had to be so hard, I am glad that she has Michael then because he is amazing". That was one of the things that Ethan loved most about Kristina, her relationship with Michael. He pulled her over to him so she was sitting on his lap, looking into her beautiful brown eyes Ethan lost all train of thought " I was going to tell you something else but you sitting on my lap like this looking all beautiful in the moonlight made me forget what that was" he said to her, pulling her in for a kiss. She ran her hand up his arm and thru his silky black hair, man it felt so soft and he felt so good to her, like they fit perfectly together. Ethan felt the same way, touching her back and caressing her face, he knew he was were he was supposed to be, right with her. "Oh wait...now I remember" he said, after about 20 minutes of kissing..."this one you are not going to believe, Johnny and Carly are dating!" "I'm sorry, say that again" Kristina said, fighting back the laughter "Carly and Johnny?" "yup, that is what Lulu said" he told her to which she replied thru laughter "well I guess everybody needs love, bet my dad loved that one." And they both just died laughing. After a few minutes of laughter she looked at him and asked "so tell me about the job Dim wants you to do." Dang, that was the one thing he forgot to tell her, with everything else it slipped his mind. "ok" he said, "this is what we are going to have to do...if you are game"...


	13. Chapter 13

Ethan explained that the job Dim had received was from a very wealthy man who claimed his wife and her lover stole a bag full of valuable black diamonds from his vault and he wants Dim and Ethan to get them back. "he already paid Dim $10,000 up front, of which he gave me $5000" and Ethan pulled the wad of cash out of his pocket. Kristina's eyes got wide "oh my goodness" she said. "the man has also paid for us to have a room at the resort that the couple is at right now. Dim thinks that me and you can befriend these two and we can get our way in the room and find the jewels" Ethan explained to her. "ok, sounds like a plan" she replied "when do we leave?". "We leave tomorrow morning" he said. Awesome, Kristina thought, one more night with Ethan before this con starts. She was unsure about running a con, but she knew that Ethan would never involve her in something really dangerous and she was loving the adventure. "so" she said as she wiggled on his lap which made Ethan moan a little and nuzzle her neck "how do you want to spend tonight" she said while taking her finger down the center of his chest. Ethan could not take it anymore, she was driving him crazy "Oh Krissy, if you do not stop doing that I will not be able to control myself" he said in a moan "do what" she said coyly as she moved around on his lap again. She knew it was making him crazy and that is what she wanted, she loved that she could make him feel like this now. The second time she wiggled on his lap he said "ok, I told you" and kissed her full on the mouth with so much passion and fire, if she had not been sitting down her knees would have buckled. then he moved to her neck and ear. While he was kissing her neck, she pulled away from him, shot him a look of total passion, stood up, grabbed his hand and he just knew to follow her. She lead him to the bedroom. She still had his hand as she lead him around the room as she lit candles, while she was doing this he would come up behind her, hold her close against his chest and kiss her neck. She finally could not take it anymore, turned around and kissed him. No words needed to be said, they were totally connected...


	14. Chapter 14

When Ethan woke up the next morning Kristina was still asleep with her head on his chest. How did he get this lucky he thought to himself as he leaned his head down and kissed her forehead. Kristina mummered a little bit, opened her eyes and looked up at him "good morning beautiful" he said to her. "we need to get started for the airport, luckily we do not have that much stuff to pack." Kristina leaned up, kissed him then said "ok, let's do this!" They got their stuff together and went out into the living room to look for Dim. He was already packed and ready to leave. Kristina and Ethan were to play newlyweds and Dim was to be Ethan's brother. "Kristina are you going to be cool with all of this?" Dim asked her. "she will be amazing" Ethan replied back for her and Kristina smiled this radiant smile back at him. She was so happy that he had so much confidence in her. "trust me Dim" she said, "I will have no problem acting like I am in love with this man" and put her arm around Ethan's waist. Dim laughed "yeah, I bet you won't" and walked to pick the bags up. The flight seemed like it took forever but when they landed Kristina could smell the salt air and could not believe she was there. One of the Hawaiian ladies greeting people gave her a beautiful purple and pink lai. Ethan came over to her, adjusted it a little and said "you look beautiful". She beamed at him and took his hand. The hotel they were staying at was right on the water, with palm trees scattered all around. The room was beautiful as well. It had a balcony that overlooked the ocean and pool. Ethan noticed that it was a two bedroom, but he was hoping that Kristina would be ok with sharing with him. He put their stuff in one room while Dim put his stuff in another room. "I am going to go do some surviliance and see if I can find our happy, stealing couple" Dim said with a smile and left the room. "Can we go look around Ethan?" Kristina asked all giddy "of course Love, let's go" he replied and took her hand. They saw the pool, and the spa. Ethan had went to the bathoom so Kristina decided to look in the gift shop. She saw this beautiful silver necklace that had a pink diamond heart on it. "how much" she asked the clerk when he came over. "$500" he replied. Wow she thought, it was gorgeous but she could not afford that. Ethan walked in just as she was asking the clerk to put it back in the case. She turned around and saw Ethan looking at her so she quickly changed her look from longing to happiness and hoped that Ethan did not notice. "you ready? We should see if we can find Dim" she said as she took his hand and led him out of the gift shop. They found Dim back up in the room. "I found them" he started "and they are actually really cool, it is a shame" he continued. "I told them how I was here with my recently married brother and his wife and after talking to them for a little while by the pool bar, they invited us all to dinner tonight. Ethan, I picked you up a suit and Kristina there is a dress for you hanging in the closet. I hope I got the size right but I thought the color would look great on you" Ethan shot him this look for firey daggers "oh calm down man, I had to get her something to wear" Dim stated thru laughter. Kristina giggled as well to herself, man Ethan is so hot when he is jealous she thought as she went to take a shower. Ethan and Dim had been waiting for Kristina for awhile and they were already 10 minutes late. "Kristina, is everything ok in there" Ethan called to her. "yes, why don't you two go ahead and I will meet you there, don't worry, shouldn't be longer than 15 minutes" she replied back. "Are you sure you are ok" he called back "yes" she responded, "ok we will see you down there" and she heard Ethan and Dim leave and shut the door behind them. Oh my Kristina she said to herself...She was just standing in front of the mirror looking at herself in the dress that Dim got her. He really did get her size right and she could not believe how adult she looked in it. It kinda reminded her of when she was trying on some of Maxie's dresses but this one was 10 times better. It was a mixture of blues and pinks and purples, it was strapless and came down to right above her ankles with a slit all the way up the side and it hugged every curve she had. The shoes that he bought her matched perfectly "he was really good at this" she said to herself, still just staring at her reflection. She finished putting on her make-up and putting her hair up. She left a few pieces hang on each side and curled them into little ringlets. She took one last look in the mirror and said "ok here we go" and left the room. Ethan was sitting at the table with Dim and the other couple who's names were Megan and Brian. Ethan hated to admit it but Dim was right and they were both really cool. He was starting to get worried about Kristina, wondering what was taking her so long till he saw Dim staring toward the stairs that led to the outdoor dining area "WOW" was all Dim said and hit Ethan on the arm. Ethan turned to look in the same direction and he could not believe his eyes. Kristina was at the top of the stairs and his heart stopped. She looked so stunningly beautiful and as soon as she saw him her face light up with a smile. She did not take her eyes off of him as she walked down the stairs. "you are one lucky man my brother" Dim said to him which made Brian also look over "my god man, is that his wife?" he asked Dim while still eyeing Kristina up and down. Dim did not like the look he gave Kristina and knew he was going to have to pay attention to that, as Ethan didn't notice, he was still just staring at Kristina. Once she made it over to their table Ethan stood up and kissed her "Hi Love" he said "let me introduce you to Megan and Brian" as she shook both of their hands and took her seat beside Ethan. The entire dinner was fun as far as Kristina was concerned. She and Megan really got along and she loved watching Ethan doing what he did best, winning people over. When dinner was finishing up, the girls made plans to hang out by the pool tomorrow while the boys were going to play golf. Golf, Kristina thought to herself with a giggle, the only golf that she figured Ethan knew about involved windmills. She was going to have to wait around in the morning so she could see Ethan and Dim in golf shorts. As they said goodnight Ethan hugged her and whispered in her ear "let's take a walk". They said they would see Dim upstairs later and they headed toward the beach. They walked in the sand to the glow of the moon and the lights of the hotel. "Kristina" Ethan said as he stopped and took her hands into his "I wanted to let you know what you mean to me, how much I love you and how happy I am that you are with me right now" Kristina looked at him and smiled "I am right where I should be, I love you too" and kissed him. While they were kissing she could tell that Ethan's hand had moved from her body "Kristina, I got this for you" he said and handed her a box. "you didn't have to get me anything" she said "being here with you is enough" "just open it love" he told her softly. She held the box in her hand and opened it. As she did she gasped "Oh my god Ethan! How did you know I wanted this necklace? No, I cannot keep it! We need the money more, please take it back" as she closed the box and handed it back to him" Ethan just looked at her, he could see a tear go down her cheek. How he loved this woman, he loved that she was so concerned .."Kristina, I am not going to take it back, this is for you. I love you and I would love to see you wearing this, it is not as beautiful as you but it is close" and with that he took the necklace out of the box and put it around her neck. "this way, my heart will always be with you, no matter were you are" he said sweetly to her as he pulled her in for a hug. "thank you Ethan" she said softly "i will treasure it forever as I did the bracelet you gave me" as she held up her wrist. Ethan could not believe that he had not noticed before, but she was wearing the friendship bracelet that he gave her before she left for Yale. "I cannot believe that you still have that" he said while taking his finger and rubbing on the bracelet. "of course I do, it was a gift from the man I love" she said to which he pulled her close to him and held her tight...


	15. Chapter 15

The next morning Kristina woke up to Ethan saying "Dim, seriously mate, must I wear this? I look like an ad out of Golf Weekly or something." She walked out of the room and busted out laughing "oh come on Kristina!" he said with a smirk. She walked over and put her arms around his neck and said "oh trust me, you will be the most handsome man out there" she kissed him "and make sure you yell four when you swing" and she walked away laughing. "oh you are real funny Kristina, real funny" he replied back. A few hours later Ethan, Dim and Brian had finished their round of golf and were sitting at the bar having a drink. Dim had seen a beautiful lady sitting at a table and had decided to go try running his game on her. "So man, how long have you and Kristina been married?" Brian asked him. "3 months tomorrow" Ethan replied back. "wow, that is a short time, are you enjoying it so far" he asked. "yes, she is amazing" Ethan said "yeah, I can see that" Brian replied and Ethan picked up on what Dim had told him about Brian looking at Kristina. "You can see what?" he asked him with a hint of anger in his voice. "oh nothing man" he said back. "let me ask you something" he said as he leaned over the table to Ethan "have you two ever considered swinging?" Ethan held back the urge to punch him right dead in his face, how could he even think it was ok to ask that, the thought of another man just touching Kristina made his blood boil. "no man, nobody else is going to touch my lady" he said back to Brian. "gotcha" he replied back to Ethan. Later on that afternoon Ethan and Dim met Kristina back in the room. Ethan was telling Kristina about what Brian had asked. "seriously?" she said to him "maybe we can use that to our advantage" "oh hell no Kristina!" Ethan said angerly "there is no way we are going to use you to get to him, it is not going to happen!" "But Ethan, what if I just flirt with him, I can swipe his room key and you two can search it to see if the jewels are there? You can give me a few pick pocking lessons" she explained to him while Ethan just kept shaking his head "it is to dangerous" he kept saying. "Ethan man, I am not all for Kristina being anywhere near this guy either, but we can watch from nearby and there should be no real danger to her. Heck if she is actually willing to do this, we should at least consider it" Dim said as he walked over to sit across from Ethan. "No, I will not have her putting herself at risk for this" he stated "you will not have me? " Kristina asked "since when did you become my boss? I love you Ethan but you do not get to dictate what I do" "oh I didn't mean it like that Kristina" he started, knowing he had messed up. He stood up and walked over to her "look, I just do not want anything to happen to you, and the thought of him or anybody else even touching you makes me crazy" he said looking away from her. She took his hand "I can do this, let me do this, you both will be right there, and you are the best teacher around, look how fast I picked up poker. I will be ok" she said softly. "ok, I am outnumbered anyway" he said as Kristina squealed and hugged him. "Ok boys, teach me how to pick a man's pocket" she said smiling...


	16. Chapter 16

A few hours went by and Kristina thought she was getting the hang of picking a pocket. Ethan still had a lot of reservations about it " I still do not like this Kristina! Why don't Dim and I just distract him and grab the key instead? I think I like that idea better than you putting yourself out there" He said to Kristina and Dim. "Ok, how about this" Kristina said to him "we can do it together, that way you will be with me. I will distract him and you can grab the key?" Ethan thought about it for a few minutes. He would have felt better if Kristina was up in the room and he and Dim did it themselves but he also knew Kristina. "ok, we will do it like that" he said but in his gut he knew this was wrong. He knew that Kristina should not be running these kind of cons with him, she should be back home and going to school, not doing this type of thing. After this job, he was going to have to talk to her about these feelings. Ethan and Kristina set out to find Brian, and it was pretty easy as he was back at the bar. Ethan began to wonder if he ever left. They both walked up to him and started talking. Kristina got creeped out right away as the guy did not take his eyes off of her, he looked at her like she something to devour. Ethan saw this too and thought to himself ok let's get this over fast. Kristina started talking to Brian and got him to face her, then she acted like she lost her balance and fell into him, at that moment Ethan grabbed the key out of his pocket. "oh I am so sorry, I just got a little dizzy" she said "Maybe I should take you back up to the room then Love, talk to you later Brian" Ethan said as he grabbed Kristina's hand. They walked back up to the room in silence, she could tell that something was wrong with Ethan but she didn't want to find out yet, because she had an idea. When they got back to the room, Ethan handed Dim the key and said "excuse us for a few minutes Dim, I need to speak to Kristina" and led her to the bedroom. "what's wrong" she asked "I thought all of that went great" "it did" he started "that is the problem" "why is it a problem?" she questioned him. He took a deep breath and began "Kristina, you know I love you and want you to be with me forever, but this kind of life is not what you deserve. You deserve better" "but Ethan, there is nothing better than you" she interrupted "please let me finish Kristina" he asked putting his hand on hers "ok" she replied then he started again "I think after this con we both need to go back to Port Charles. "I'm not going back to Port Charles without you Ethan" she interruped again "Krissy, I said we not you. Lulu has a job waiting for me at the Haunted Star and if you do not want to go back to Yale, you can go to PCU or you can see if Kate has that job for you still. What do you think?" he said causiously as Kristina was just sitting there, looking at him. She hated to admit it but when he said let's go home she actually really wanted too, she missed her mom and sisters and Michael, heck she even missed her Dad a little. Looking into Ethan's eyes as he waited for an answer she said "ya know, you could probably convince me to jump off of a bridge if you really wanted too" Ethan chuckeled and said "well, I will keep that in mind haha" "ok let's go home" she replied as she sat on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck "just promise me you will never leave me" she said to him "I promise to never leave you Kristina, you are my love, my life" and he kissed her. They were headed home...just had one thing they had to do before they did and that was find the jewels...


	17. Chapter 17

Ethan and Dim set out for Brian and Megan's room. They refused to let Kristina come in case Brian showed up. He knew she was not happy but he could not risk her getting into trouble or hurt. He had asked her to pack their stuff up incase they had to run for it. Dim was standing guard while Ethan looked for the safe. He found the safe and was able to crack the code pretty easily...dang I am good he thought to himself. But when he opened the safe he found it empty. "damn, where could it be" he said "what's wrong" Dim asked from the door. "it's not in the safe, I am going to search the room" he said back. He looked thru Brian's suitcase and only found some clothes and come porn dvds "shocking" Ethan said to himself as he decided he was going to have to scrub his hands when he got back to the room. Then he went for Megan's suitcase, nothing but some shoes and clothes and one pair of boots. He started to give up and look around the room but something in his head said check the boots so he put his hand in the boots and pulled out a white bag. He opened it up and out fell the most beautiful collection of black diamonds he had ever seen. His first thought was "oh one of these would look beautiful on Kristina" but he thought again about taking one and put them all back in the bag and headed out the door. "mission complete" Dim said to Ethan as they walked down the hall and back to their room. Kristina was estatic to see Ethan and Dim back and in one piece. "how was it, did everything go ok?" she asked them both as she ran up to Ethan and hugged him. "everything went fine love, no problems whatsoever" he said back to her. "everything is packed and ready to go" she said. "ok, let's not stick around to find out if they come looking, let's blow" Dim said as he grabbed the bags. Ethan grabbed Kristina's hand and they were off. Kristina loved Hawaii but she was ready to see her family. They headed to New Orleans first to drop off Dim and to meet up with the guy to give him back his diamonds. They met him at a local bar sitting in the back corner. "Barney Sim's! Nice to meet you both" he said as he shook Ethan and Kristina's hands. "so you were able to find my babies" he said as Dim pulled out the diamonds from his pocket. He reached for them and Dim pulled them back "no offense, but let's see the money first" Dim said. "haha, of course" Barney said as he pulled a wad of cash out of his jacket pocket. $100,000 cash was the deal right. Kristina gasped at the site of it and Ethan grabbed her hand "oh let me guess, you two are in love?" Barney asked her and Ethan. they both smiled at eachother and Ethan answered "yes". "that is very touching" Barney said "treat her right and pay attention to her, because if you do not she might run off with your priced possesion" Kristina smiled at Ethan and said "you heard him or I am going to run off with your deck of cards and your chain wallet" laughing. Ethan put his arm around her waist and said "oh well we cannot risk that can we" and kissed her on her forhead. "thank you again" Barney said as he took his bag. They all headed toward the airport "so Dim, do you want to come back to Port Charles with us for a little while" Ethan asked him as Dim handed him his and Kristina's share of the money "yes, please Dim, you will have fun, it will be great" Kristina pleaded "any other beautiful ladies in your town" he asked "oh you have no idea" she replied back "so does that mean you will come too?" she said excitedly "sure, why not, I could use another vacation for a few weeks" he replied back to which Ethan and Kristina both hugged him. "Kristina" Ethan said to her as they were waiting for their flight "when we get back, where do you want to stay?" he asked her. "I have thought about that but I have to make a phone call to see if it is do-able" she said with a sparkle in her eye. Ethan handed her his cell phone and she walked away, all he heard her say was "Hi Sam, it's me". When she got back he just looked at her with his eyebrow raised. "Sam said her apartment is still free and that we can stay there till we figure out where we want to live" she explained "we" Ethan said to her as he took her hand in his and looked at her with a sly smile "yes we, I do not want to live apart from you and I was kinda hoping you didn't want to live apart from me either" she said back to him "I will have to live on my own because I do not want my parents to pay for me anymore, I want to make it on my own" "you will not be on your own, I will be right beside you all the way" Ethan said back to her and he kissed her. "final call for flight 194 to New York City and Port Charles" they heard over the loud speaker "ok" Kristina said picking up her purse and grabbing Ethan's hand "are you ready for this?" Ethan was not sure how ready he was to see Alexis and Sonny or for Sonny to find out that they were living together but he was looking forward to being home, seeing Luke and Lulu and being with Kristina..."let's roll" Ethan said as they headed toward the gate. "are you sure there are available, good looking woman there" Dim asked as they headed down the isle. Kristina just laughed, he had no idea what he was getting into...


	18. Chapter 18

They all arrived in Port Charles a couple of hours later. "do you want me to go with you to see your mom?" Ethan asked Kristina. "No, I think I should see her by myself and explain to her what is going on, if we both go it might overwhelm her" she said back. "Ok, I will take Dim to Kelly's to get him a room and then I am going to go see Luke at the hospital, I will call when I am done" Ethan said as he kissed her head. "ok, tell him that I said get better soon" Kristina decided first to go see Sam and her new baby boy Daniel Alan. She knocked on the penthouse door and Jason answered "well look who decided to come back, welcome home stranger" he said as he gave her a little hug. Sam came running down the stairs "Kristina, it is so great to see you!" "it is great to see you too, I have missed you" she said back "so where is my new nephew? Aunt Kristina brought him a present from Hawaii" "Hawaii?" Jason questioned "Jason, you knew she was in Hawaii, you know she was there with Ethan" " so tell me sis, how is everything?" Sam asked as she pulled Kristina to the couch and shot Jason a look. "Ok, I am going to get out of here for a little bit so you two can catch up" Jason said as he grabbed his keys "please Jason, do not tell my dad that I am back yet, I am going to go see him but I do not need him tracking me down" Kristina pleaded with him "don't worry, he is to busy with Kate right now" and he walked out. "Kate?" Kristina questioned Sam, so Sam told her about Kate being the one that shot out the tires that killed Starr's boyfriend and baby and told her about her DID "Seriously?" Kristina asked "that is insane". "so tell me, how is everything going with Ethan" Sam asked her. Kristina could not stop herself, she began to gush like a school girl "he is amazing, caring, thoughtful, smart, brilliant." "Is it everything you thought it would be" Sam asked her "no, it is so much better, it is nothing like I thought it would be" she replied back to her. "How is everything with Jason going? How are you both dealing with parenthood?" "It's hard, but it is so worth it" Sam said with a gleam in her eye that Kristina had never seen before. Sam just looked so happy to her, and she was happy for her. "Now let me meet Danny" Kristina begged so Sam took her up to the nursery.

Ethan walked into the hospital after getting Dim set up with a room at Kelly's. He saw Lulu walking down the hallway, when she looked up her frown instantly turned to the biggest, brightest smile and she came running up to him and threw her arms around him "Ethan, Oh My Goodness, I am so glad you came home! Are you here to stay? I told you you didn't have to come but I am so glad you are here" she exclaimed while she was still hugging him. Before he got a chance to answer her heard another voice say "well look who's back, I hope you brought my sister with you" Lulu started laughing as Dante walked up. "yes, she came with me, she was going to see Sam and Alexis" Ethan replied to him while he shook his hand. Then he looked back at Lulu "how is Luke doing?" he asked starting to worry a little. "he is getting so much better, but I am sure he is going to love to see you, let me take you to his room" and she grabbed his hand and led the way. Ethan hated seeing Luke laying in that bed. Lulu sat down in the chair beside the bed and tapped his hand "Dad, Dad look who came to see you" Luke opened his eyes and a smile crept over his face "Dodge...how the hell are you?" he asked as Ethan walked over behind Lulu and grabbed his hand "Better than you it seems" Ethan said with a little chuckle. "Lulu told me some of what happened to you and Kristina, but I am sure she left out some of it so tell me everything. How is Kristina doing after all of that?" Ethan felt a smile creep across his face now with just thinking about Kristina and both Lulu and Luke picked up on it "oh no, I have lost you too" Luke said "what have I told you about love? It is bad enough Lulu fell hard for the cop, no offense Dante" "non taken" Dante replied back with a laugh "and now you have fallen hard for Sonny's little daughter" Luke continued "you know what you are getting into don't you" "oh I know exactly what I am getting into, and it is totally worth it" Ethan replied as he put his hands on Lulu's shoulders "now sis, I am going to need to take you up on that offer for a job at the Haunted Star if it is still good" "of course it is still good. Johnny is not going to have a problem with it either. Wait till you see what I have done with he place" she replied back to him. Once Ethan caught up with Luke and Lulu he headed off with Lulu to see the new Haunted Star and Johnny. As they were walking down the hallway of the hospital he thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye that made him jump "what is it?" Lulu asked as Ethan looked back again and saw nothing. "oh nothing, I thought I saw someone but I guess not" he said. But he looked one more time because he swore he saw Brian...but he had to be wrong...


	19. Chapter 19

Ethan brushed off his thought that he saw Brian, it is just his imagination because there would be no way for him to have found them that fast. On the other side of town Kristina was headed up the stairs to the lake house. As she walked in Molly hopped up off of the couch and came running toward her "Kristina, your home" and at that moment Alexis came out of the kitchen and before she knew it she was in the middle of a partial Davis girls hug. "Mom, you can let me go now" Kristina said thru gasps. "I am never letting you go again" she said as she still continued to hug Kristina. "mom, you have to let her go sometime" Molly said thru giggles. "oh ok" Alexis said trough tears "oh mom, don't cry, I am home to stay, but I am just not staying here" she said waiting on a reaction from Alexis but nothing came. "I know, Sam already talked to me about it and I am ok with it" she answered Kristina "oh it is so romantic, you and Ethan living together, your love growing everyday, it is like one of the great love stories" Molly said beaming. Kristina smiled, she had really missed Molly and her romantic optimisim. "So Mom, you are ok with me and Ethan being together? I figured I would get some soft of fight" "no Kristina, I am not going to fight you on this. I had a talk with Luke and found out what happended to you. I cannot believe you didn't tell me yourself but I also understand that Ethan is the one that saved you and I realize that he has more or less always been the one to save you, so I am happy for you both" and with that Kristina went and hugged Alexis just as hard as she hugged her earlier. Back at the Haunted Star, Ethan walked in and could not believe the transformation, it was a totally different place. "Well well, we usually do not let con men into this fine establishment" he heard Johnny say from behind him "well if they let people like you run it, you should let me in mate and considering my sister co-owns it, I think we are cool" he said back to Johhny with a smile as Johnny came over and gave him a hug. "it is good to see you man" Johnny said. "wait till you meet our new singer Starr Manning, she is amazing. I hear you want a job, well the bar is yours if you want it" Johnny said to him with a pat on the back. "we certainly can use your help" Lulu replied back. Ethan called Kristina from the Haunted Star to let her know what was going on "hey love, you should come by here and see this place" Ethan told her "ok, I will stop by there and then we can go to our new apartment, Sam gave me the keys" she said back to him. "see you in 15 or 20 minutes, love you" and "love you too" and she hung up the phone. As soon as he hung up the phone Michael walked in with a very pretty blond on his arm, once he saw Ethan he walked her over to him "Ethan, when did you get back, you bring my sister with you?" he had to laugh "that is the same thing Dante said to me. Kristina will be happy to know she is loved. Yes, she is with me, she should be here soon" "Ethan Lovett, this is Starr Manning, Starr..Ethan Lovett he is Lulu's brother and my sisters boyfriend" well I guess he was told too, what did Molly do take a full page ad out in the Port Charles Gazzette? "Hi Ethan, it is a pleasure to meet you" Starr greeted him with a smile and a handshake. "I see you have met Starr" Johnny said walking over to them both. "Ethan is going to be our new head of bar management" Johnny continued "really, wow, that is awesome Ethan" Michael replied back "it is just a high class way of calling me a bartender" Ethan said back. At that moment he heard a voice say "wow, you all have done a great job on this place" and that dang smile crept over his face again. He didn't realizes how much he misses Kristina till she comes back from being gone. "Hey brother" she said walking over to Michael and giving him a huge hug "missed you Kristina" he said "missed you too" she said back to him. "what about me?" Johnny asked her which made Kristina giggle "oh I guess I missed you too, I am sorry to hear about your dad, not that I liked him at all but I am sorry for you" she said and hugged him too. After that hug she turned and she was right in front of Starr, both Ethan and Michael got this look on their faces as they remember how she acted to Abby, so they were unsure about how this would go. "Hi, you must be Starr" Kristina said to Starr and held out her hand to shake hands with Starr. "Yes, Starr Manning, it is really nice to meet you finally Kristina. Michael talks about you all the time" "oh he does? I hope it is all good" Kristina said looking at Michael "well of course" Michael said sarcastically, She hugged Michael again and then headed over to Ethan. "Did you hear love I am the new head of bar management" and Johnny just shot him a look of great saracasticness. "You both should come by tonight" Lulu said as she walked out of the back room. "we are having an open mic night and Starr will be singing. Just come and hang out tonight on us, no working allowed" she continued. Kristina looked up at Ethan and said "sounds good to me, let's take our stuff to the apartment, rest a little and come hang out here." "well I guess we will see you all tonight" Ethan says as he takes Kristina's hand to leave "it was really nice meeting you Starr" Kristina said as she was leaving. Once they got to Sam's apartment, Kristina took the keys and unlocked the door. It was still the same as she remembered it. She put her stuff down and fell on the couch, exhausted. Ethan walked around the apartment, looking to see where everything was. She heard him go out the back door and heard him say "oh look a hot tub, I think we need to try this out" when she looked up he had his shirt off already and was ready to get in...damn why did he have to take his shirt off she thought to herself...this rush of heat came over her..."so much for resting" she said to herself as she walked toward the hot tub and a wet Ethan...


	20. Chapter 20

A few hours later Ethan and Kristina walked into the Haunted Star. It was already crowded but Lulu had saved them both a table with Sam and Jason. They had asked Alexis to watch baby Danny so they could go out for a little while. Kristina saw Michael and Starr over by the bar and excused herself to go and talk to them. "good luck tonight Starr" she said as she walked up beside them. "thank you so much Kristina, it was great of you to come" Starr replied back. "are you or Ethan going to do anything for open mic night? She asked Kristina and Michael busted out laughing "Krissy sing, no way is that going to happen" "Hey" Kristina exclaimed as she playfully hit Michael's arm "but he is right Starr, I have no singing ability, but Ethan does, maybe I can convince him to sing something". "Hey, I have to go talk to Johnny about something" Michael said "you two talk and get to know eachother" as he leaned in and kissed Starr's cheek. "you are the first girlfriend Kristina seems to like" and he walked over to Johnny. Kristina giggled to herself as she and Starr sat at one of the bar tables "So, I wanted to tell you Starr about how sorry I am for your baby and boyfriend. That is horrible" Kristina stated "thank you, it is still difficult and there is not a day that goes by that I do not think of them, but I need to move on and luckily for me Michael has been a great friend thru all of this" Starr replied. Kristina could tell that she was about to cry so she changed the subject really fast "so tell me about your family, is your father as crazy as mine is? Starr just busted out laughing "oh you have no idea" she said and she and Kristina started trading daddy stories. Kristina smiled to herself because she really liked this girl, she hoped that they could become friends because she really didn't have too many. On the other side of the bar Dim had walked in so Ethan ran up to him "hey mate, so this is the Haunted Star, what do you think?" Dim looked around and said "it's not so bad" "not so bad?" Lulu said as she walked up to the both of them "oh well it just got better now. What is your name gorgeous?" he said as he took Lulu's hand and kissed it. Lulu just started laughing "friend of yours I assume" she said. "Dim, I would like you to meet my sister Lulu Spencer Falconeri. Lulu, I would like you to meet one of my good mates Dimitri, but we just call him Dim. Dim, my sister is married to Dante, who is Kristina's cop brother" he told Dim with a little bit of a chuckle. "It is really nice to meet you Lulu, sorry for all of that, but when I see a beautiful woman, I want to make all the effort to leave my mark" Dim said. "oh it is no trouble, a friend of my brother's is a friends of mine" she said as she hugged Ethan and walked over to Johnny and Michael. Ethan introduced Sam and Jason to Dim and they all sat down. Kristina made her way over to the table as well when Starr had to go reherse. "Dim, so glad you could come" she said as she got over to the table and he got up to hug her. Then she sat down beside of Ethan and he put his arm around her. She really did love that feeling. "you know" she said to him rather coyly "it is open mic night, why don't you sing something" "oh no, you are not getting me up there, I will just sing to you later" he said and he kissed her head. They sat there and listened to a few people get up and sing, the best so far she thought was Johnny who played "Unforgettable" on the piano. She didn't know he had such a great voice. During the song she was leaning her head on Ethan's shoulder and he was softly singing the words to her, just loud enough for her but nobody else to hear. She wondered to herself how she got so lucky. When Johnny was done and the applause had ended he went up to the mic and said "ok, we have one last person who asked to perform tonight before Starr comes out. Ethan Lovett get your ass up here" Kristina raised her head and looked at Ethan "really?" she said to which he just replied "yep" and ran up to the stage. "I am dedicating this song to the beautiful woman sitting right over there who has made my life so much happier" as he pointed to Kristina and she could feel the heat rush to her cheeks as she blushed. "I sang this song the first day we met and I hope she likes it as much now as she did then. I love you Kristina" and he nodded to the band who started playing "Need You Tonight". Kristina could not believe that he was singing it to her. It was different than the last night, this time he never took his eyes off of her. She ate it up like it was cake, she loved every minute of it. Once he finished and everybody applauded, he came back down and she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him which made most of the people in the bar clap again and whistle. Kristina and Ethan both started to laugh and sat down. Starr was next out and Kristina was amazed at how good she was. She looked around and saw that Dim had introduced himself to Maxie and they seemed to be hitting it off really well. "Look" Kristina said to Ethan and nodded over toward Dim and Maxie. "oh that is either the best match ever or the worst" Ethan said with a chuckle as he put his arm around Kristina again. Kristina smiled at Dim and Maxie and then went to turn her head and "oh no" she exclaimed "what is wrong love" Ethan said as he looked at her. "i thought I just saw...no, it can't be, I am just being silly" she started "you thought you saw who?" Ethan asked her, his teeth getting a little clinched with the thought of what she was going to say. "I thought I just saw Brian, but it can't be" she continued and the look that Ethan had on his face scared her a little. "ok, I am going to go have a look, you stay right her with Jason and Sam" he said to her as he got up from the table "No Ethan, I am sure I didn't see him" she tried to say to get him to not go "no, I thought I saw him earlier and thought it was my imagination, but it could not be that we were both wrong, so stay at this table with Jason and Sam ok?" he pleaded with her. "ok, of course, but take Dim with you, please" she begged to which he nodded, kissed her head and went to get Dim. She watched them both walk out the door and this pit formed in her stomach...


	21. Chapter 21

Johnny saw Ethan and Dim leave and he went over to Kristina to make sure everything was ok. "please Johnny, go check on them. We will explain later, but go make sure Ethan is ok" she pleaded with him. Johnny turned around and made a beeline for where Ethan and Dim had left. Kristina could not just sit there, she was getting anzy and stressed not knowing what was going on, so she got up from the table and headed for the bathroom. She just sat in the stall and thought about all of the bad things that could be happening. "snap out of it Kristina, they are fine. Ethan will most likely be sitting at the table when you get back" she said to herself. Meanwhile Johnny had caught up to Ethan and Dim and they were searching the outside of the boat for Brian. "who is this guy anyway?" Johnny asked Ethan. "well he is a guy that we all ran a con on in Hawaii before we came home. He had stolen some diamonds from a guy and we got them back. He took a disgusting liking to Kristina, so we just have to make sure it is really not him" Ethan explained to which Johnny just said "well whatever you need man". They searched high and low but could not find anything. "well maybe we should get back to the party, I don't like leaving Kristina alone" Ethan started "oh please, she is sitting at the enforcers table, nothing is going to happen to her" Johnny replied back "enforcer?" Dim asked. "oh I will explain that later Dim, let's get back" so they turned and headed back to the boat and Kristina.

Kristina had took a deep breath and had started walking down the hallway from the bathroom when all of a sudden she was thrown up against the wall. Her head smacked against the wall so hard she thought she was going to black out. Then she was twisted around and she was face to face with Brian. "Brian, what are you doing?" Kristina asked in a daze "let me go, you are hurting me!" "hurting you? hurting you? I have not even began to hurt you" he said with a rage in his voice Kristina knew too well. "let me go Brian, now!" she demanded but he would not let go of her arm. Now he had both of her arms and he was pushing her so hard against the wall that he had lifted her up and was squeezing her arms. The pain was horrible. Kristina started screaming but nobody could hear her over the music. She tried kicking him and moving around but his grip just got tighter. "what do you want from me Brian?" she asked, scared to hear the answer. "you stole from me, you and your con man husband or boyfriend or whatever he is! you stole from me and then Megan left me to go back to Barney because I didn't have the diamonds anymore. You made me lose the most important thing in my life so now you are going to make up for that" and he moved in to start attacking her. She struggled to break free but he was way to strong, she moved her head when he tried to kiss her and she just kept screaming, hoping that somebody would hear her. Please somebody has to hear me, she thought to herself. What she wouldn't give for anybody to come around the corner at that moment. He kept pushing himself on her "stop sqirming you little bitch, you will make up what you stole from me one way or another" he angrily exclaimed to her. Krisitina just closed her eyes and begged him to stop "please Brian, let me go, let me go now!" when all of a sudden she felt this force running toward them and she was released from Brian's grasp and fell to the ground. She looked up to see that Ethan had leveled Brian and Johnny now had a gun pointed at his head. Ethan just continued hitting him, over and over and over again. "I think that is good Ethan" Johnny said to him as he got Ethan off of Brian. "my men will handle it from here" as he kept the gun pointed at Brian's head. Ethan walked over to Kristina and bent down beside of her. He could not believe how bruised her arms and face already were, he wanted to turn around and beat the hell out of Brian again. But instead he got ready to pick her up when he heard Dim yell "Ethan look out" and before he knew it he heard this gunshot and felt the white hot heat all in his side and he fell to the floor. He heard Kristina scream and he looked over to see Johnny beating the hell out of Brian while he wondered what had happened. Kristina put his head on her lap while Dim ran over and used his shirt to try to stop the bleeding that was coming from his gut. "Johnny, call 911 NOW! And go get Robin and Patrick, I saw them out there, they can help!" Kristina yelled and Johnny took off and Dim watched Brian, who was not moving anymore on the ground. "Kristina" Ethan said softly thru gasps. "i am here Ethan, don't try to talk, we are going to get you help and you are going to be fine" she said to him. "Are you ok Kristina, did he hurt you too badly?" he asked her. She could not believe that he was worried about her when he was laying there bleeding. "Do not worry about me Ethan, right now we need to make sure that you are ok. Where the hell is Johnny with Patrick and Robin?" she said trying to hide her hysteria. "I am not going to lose you Ethan, not right after we found our way to eachother, we have so many more adventures to do" she said starting to cry and she leaned in and kissed him. "don't worry love, death cannot stop true love, all it can do is delay it for awhile" he said back to her with a forced chuckle. 'that is not funny, now is not the time to quote Princess Bride, there is no death happening here" she said back just as Patrick and Robin came running up. The next 15 minutes were a blurr to her. She rode in the ambulance with Ethan as they were working on his gunshot wound and when she got to the hospital they rushed him into surgery. Before she knew it she was not alone in the waiting room, Lulu, Dante, Maxie, Michael, Starr, Johnny, Dim and Sam were all there with her waiting for word. "Kristina, we need to talk about what happened" Dante told her "later Dante, I need to focus on Ethan now". She just sat there with her head in her hands and cried. "Kristina, I think we need to get your checked out as well" Lulu said "those bruises do not look all that great, especially the one on your head." and she took Kristina over to Epiphany.

Kristina could not think of anything but Ethan and she thought all of it was taking way to long. She was back in the waiting room with a bandage on her head before anybody had heard anything. Lulu had gone and told Luke as well so he had come to sit and wait in his wheelchair and Alexis and Sonny had also shown up. This was the first time she had seen her dad but she could not fight with him now. She turned her head and looked up when she head the surgical doors open and both Robin and Patrick come out. They had blood all over their scrubs which made Kristina almost faint. But somehow she held it together as they walked over and said to them "how is he? is he going to be ok? can i see him?" "we were able to repair the damage from the bullet but he has lost a lot of blood and he has not regained conciousness yet, so there could be complications" Robin explained to her. "complications? what kind of complications" Lulu said just as Kristina got really dizzy and fainted. Luckily Michael was able to catch her and sit her in a chair. "I need to see him now please" Kristina said softly "ok, but just for a few minutes" Robin replied back. Michael helped Kristina up and walked her to Ethan's room and opened the door...


	22. Chapter 22

Kristina opened the door and let out a huge gasp when she saw Ethan laying the bed with tubes and wires and things that buzzed and beeped all around him. Michael walked behind her into the room and pushed the chair up next to the bed for her so she could sit beside him. "thank you Michael" she said to him with a half smile "would you mind giving me a few minutes?" "sure" Michael replied back and he headed back out of the room. Kristina looked Ethan all over, he was paler than normal and had a huge bandage on his side. She sat down in the chair and grabbed his hand "Ethan, you have to wake up my love, everybody is so worried about you". When he didn't respond she laid her head down on the side of the bed and fell asleep holding his hand. She was awoken a few times by Patrick, Robin and Liz coming in to check on both of them and to take his vitals. She had started to fall back to sleep when there was a knock on the door and Sonny came in. "Dad, what are you doing in here?" she questioned him "if you are looking for a fight, I am in no mood right now, I am kinda busy" she said as she waved her hand around Ethan. "I am not going to fight Kristina" he started "I was worried about you and wanted to see if you were ok" "I'm fine Dad" she said "I am just scared that the man that I love is going to never come back to me" she continued "the man you love?" Sonny asked back "you mean to tell me that you are in love with this man, this man is the reason that you got hurt tonight" Kristina could feel the anger flowing inside her "Dad, I told you I was not going to fight with you right now. If you actually got your story and facts straight, you would know that it was ETHAN that saved me tonight and if it was not for ETHAN I would be in the one lying in this bed, so maybe you need to get your facts together before you storm in here talking about things you do not understand" She felt proud of herself, she was certainly not going to let her father come in here and dog Ethan when he was shot protecting her. "Ok Kristina, I am not going to fight, just tell me one thing...why are you still wasting your time with this man?" before she had a chance to answer she heard a whisper say "because this man loves her more than anything in the world" "Ethan" Kristina said excitedly and ran over to face him "Ethan honey can you hear me?" "Yes love, I can hear you" he said softly, kinda coughing. "Oh my god Ethan, I love you" as she kissed his forehead. "Dad, can you go get Patrick or Robin please?" Kristina asked him "ok, but before I do, Ethan I just want to say"...but Kristina broke him off "no Dad, if you are going to be rude do not say a word, he is still recovering from almost dying" "I just wanted to say thank you for protecting Kristina and saving her life" Ethan nodded at him and Sonny turned and went to find Patrick and Robin. "Kristina, I want you to know" Ethan started but Kristina stopped him "there will be enough time to tell me tons of things, right now you need to rest" she said "Kristina, did he do anything to you, did he hurt you?" he persistantly asked her while he looked at her bruised head and arms. "nothing to bad, and no he didnt do anything like that to be, just some bruises and bumps" she said as she rubbed his hand and moved the hair from his face. "what happened to him?" Ethan asked "I am not sure, Johnny took care of it and I didn't want to ask questions, so when he comes in I am sure he will tell you" she responded. She wasn't going to tell him everything that happened...he didn't need to know now, he needed his rest, so she climbed into the hospital bed with him and he fell back to sleep...


	23. Chapter 23

Kristina awoke to Ethan rubbing her hair. "How are you feeling?" she said as she looked up at him "I'm good, just thinking about something" he replied back. She got up out of bed, adjusted herself and sat back on the bed "whatchu thinking about?" she asked him sweetly. "do you remember the last time we were in the hospital like this?" he started "yeah, when some other psycho decided to shoot you because of me" Kristina said sadly. Ethan grabbed her hand "neither was your fault love" he said and continued "do you remember when I told you that I wasn't going anywhere and you said good because you planned on having me in your life for a very long time" "yes, of course I remember that, why?" she asked him puzzled. why was he bringing up something like that she wondered to herself. "well since you say you still mean it and I plan on being in your life forever I had a thought" he said kinda sounding a little scared. Ethan took a big breath and said "why don't we get married?" Kristina just starred at him, she could not believe the words that he said she must have just starred at him for what seemed like forever to Ethan "Kristina! Kristina!" he said "say it again?" she said to him softly so he positioned himself the best he good in the bed, took both of her hands and said "Kristina Davis, I love you more than anything in this world, marry me" and at that moment a crash came from behind Kristina, she turned around to see who it was and it was Alexis and Molly, she had brought them food that was now all over the floor and Molly had this huge smile on her face. "I'm sorry, what did he just say?" Alexis said as she walked inside...


	24. Chapter 24

Kristina just starred, first at Alexis and then back at Ethan. Did he really just ask her what he asked her? Before she had a chance to answer Alexis said again "I'm sorry but what did you just say Ethan?" as Molly started jumping up and down and clapping her hands together "I asked her if she wanted to marry me and spend the rest of her life with me" Ethan said and touched Kristina's hand. This made Kristina come out of her shocked state "Yes, of course yes, yes I will marry you" she said as she leaned forward and kissed him. "hold on just a minute" Alexis said in a tone that Kristina knew too well but before she could continue Ethan spoke up "Alexis, please listen. I love your daughter more than anything in this world and I swear to you that I will make it my goal in life to make sure she fulfills all her dreams and is happy every second of her life. Anything she wants to do, I will support her and I will make sure she is safe and protected" Kristina looked at Alexis and took a big breath, she could see the wheels moving in her mom's brain while Molly just stood there with her hand over her mouth in shock. "Mom, you know I love you and I value your opinion but Ethan is the man that I love and I think he has proven time and again that he loves me and will protect me. I am going to marry him and it would mean the world to me if I had your approval" she said as she walked over to Alexis and grabbed her hand. "but your so young" Alexis got out as a tear started to fall down her face. "I know Mom, we are both really young" as she kept her hold of Alexis' hand with one hand and grabbed Ethan's with the other "but I have known Ethan for years and you know that he is an amazing man" she looked at Alexis and hoped that she would answer ok. "Come on Mom, it is so sweet, their love has overcome so much, don't keep them waiting, it took Ethan long enough to realize that he even had feelings for Kristina" Molly said and Ethan chuckled the best he could "your right Molly" he said as he motioned for her to come to the other side of the bed and he took her hand "it did take me awhile to realize that I loved your sister. I thought she deserved better than me, I still do, but I realized that I could not live without her in my life" Kristina looked at Alexis who was crying now, then to Molly and then to Ethan, all of them still holding hands "so Mom, do we have your blessing?" she asked hopefully "Yes, yes you have my blessing" Alexis said and she grabbed Kristina and hugged her like crazy. She looked around and saw that Molly was hugging Ethan "I'm going to love having you as a brother" Molly said and Ethan hugged her tighter. She was caught up in the moment when she saw Ethan start shaking, Molly jumped back and all the alarms and buzzing started going off. Kristina ran up to him screaming "ETHAN" as Molly ran out to get help...


	25. Chapter 25

Patrick came running in as Liz pushed everybody out, Kristina fought to stay in there but it was no use. She could not get the buzzing and Ethan on the bed out of her mind. They had rushed Ethan into emergency surgery so Kristina called Dante so he could tell Lulu and she just sat in the waiting room, her head on her mom's shoulder and cried "what if he doesn't come out of this Mom?" she sobbed to Alexis "I thought it was ok and he was getting better, what if he doesn't make it?" and she continued to sob "oh honey, he is strong and a fighter, he will make it thru this, you will see" she said as she stroked her hair. "Mom is right" Molly chimed in "and he has something to fight for now" "what is that?" Kristina sniffled "you, you said yes, you are going to marry him" Molly said back to her as she knelt down in front of Kristina. Kristina had actually forgotten for a moment about that, she was so concerned with Ethan being alive "your right, I did" she said softly "and has he ever let you down before?" Alexis asked her "no, never" she said back "well then he is going to make it thru this now" Alexis said to her matter of factly "your right Mom and Molly, thank you" Kristina said, still sniffly but calming down a little "he will get thru this" "oh but how are we going to get thru this" Molly said hastily as she looked toward the hallway, Kristina looked around and saw Sonny coming "well now is as good time as any Kristina to tell him" Alexis said to her.

"how is Ethan doing?" Sonny asked Kristina as he came up and hugged her."he has not come out of surgery again, it was so scary Dad" she said. Sonny sat down in the chair and Kristina sat down beside of him. Alexis and Molly were sitting across from them looking tense. "I know this is scary honey, but he is going to be ok" Sonny told her "thanks Dad" she said with a smile and then took a breath and continued "Dad, there is something I have to tell you, I am not sure if you are going to like it but I need you to promise to not make a scene in here, do you promise?" Sonny got this look on his face "do not tell me your pregnant" he said in a roar "no Dad, no, I am not pregnant" she said "now please promise" Sonny looked at her, then Alexis and Molly and said "ok, you have my attention, I promise I will not make a scene" Kristina took another breath and began "Dad, before Ethan relapsed he asked me something, he asked if I would marry him and I said yes" she stopped and just waited. She saw Sonny look at Alexis and then back at her "are you ok with this?" he asked Alexis rather solomely "Yes, I am ok with this" Alexis said "Ethan has been amazing for Kristina and I think she has been amazing for him as well. He will always love and protect her, I think he has proven that again and again and I think we owe it to our daughter to be there for her and support her thru this" she said as she moved over beside of Kristina and put her arm around her. "she is smart and brave Sonny and you know she would not have said yes if she did not love him" Sonny just sat there for a few minutes, Kristina took his hand "Dad, please support us" Sonny looked at her and hugged her and said "ok, I approve, I just don't know about giving up my little girl" "thank you Dad" she said still hugging him.

A few minutes later Patrick walked into the waiting area. Kristina rushed up to him "is he ok?" Patrick looked at her "yes, he is fine. He had some internal bleeding where the surgery had been done and that made his blood pressure drop, but he is ok now and awake. He is asking for you" Kristina kissed Patrick on the cheek, said thank you and ran off. She flew to Ethan's room and ran in. "Hi Love!" he said when he saw her. She ran to his bed and kissed him "ouch" he said "oh I am so sorry honey" she exclaimed back, "I won't do that again" and she started to pull back "don't you dare" he said and kissed her again. "so were you serious?" he asked her "serious about what?" she said coyly, knowing what he was going to say."were you serious about marrying me?" Kristina looked down at the ground, Ethan thought he saw a tear fall down her cheek "yes, I was serious" she said softly "Kristina, why are you crying" he asked her as he tried to pull her closer, damn wound he thought. "I thought you were going to die on me twice in just a couple of days, I cannot lose you Ethan, I can't" she started getting hysterical. He grabbed her hand "Kristina, I am not going anywhere, I am right here and I will always be by your side" she looked back at him, man he hated to see her cry "you promise?" she said to him "i promise, I am not going anywhere" and with that she kissed him "your going to be my husband" she said sweetly to him and a smile came across his face. "well you did say you were going to marry me someday" he said as he kissed her again "and I always get my way" she replied back and the kisses continued. They were interrupted by a knock on the door, and in came Sonny. "I would like to have a chat with my future son-in-law" he said. Kristina jumped up, "only if you will be nice to him, he just came out of surgery, no fighting Dad" "Kristina, it will be ok" Ethan said to her "give us a few minutes" as he kissed her hand where her ring would be one day. She left giving Sonny a stare down. "So, what did you want to talk about Sonny? The weather? Sports? or how I am not good enough for Kristina or how I can never give her what she deserves" Ethan said to him...


	26. Chapter 26

Ethan adjusted himself in his bed, wincing a little due to the pain. "Ok, lay it on me Sonny! I am assuming you have heard about me asking Kristina to marry me, so let me have it" Ethan said folding his hands on his chest. Sonny shifted himself in the chair "Ethan, I might not be happy with the fact that my daughter is getting married so young, and marrying a man who runs cons for a living with no real job or home" Ethan broke in "Sonny I love your daughter and" "Ethan dammit let me finish! I might not be happy about it, but I am accepting it because I know you love her. You have showed it over and over and you have risked your life for her on numerous occasions" A slight smile crept across Ethan's face "Now if you do anything that will hurt her or you do not let her follow her dreams you know you will be answering to me?" Sonny said to him "I only want what is best for her Sonny, I swear I will do everything in my power and beyond to make her happy" He replied "well Ethan, you do that now, I can tell just by looking at her. I am also guessing that you really have not had a chance to get her a ring yet since you have been in here, am I right?" "Yes, you are right, I want to find her something beautiful to match her beauty" he responded "well I think I might have just the thing" Sonny said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a faded blue box. "this was my grandmother's wedding ring, I had Max go pick it up after Kristina told me about the engagement. I am hoping you will take it to give to her" he handed the box to Ethan and Ethan opened it and inside was the most beautiful, antique ring he had ever seen. He thought it captured Kristina's elegance and beauty "are you sure Sonny?" Ethan said to him "of course I am sure, I would love for my daughter to have her great grandmother's ring. I kept it for this very reason. Yes it might be happening sooner than what I would have liked but she is happy, so I am happy for her and I know that you are a good man" Sonny got up and shook Ethan's hand and walked out, stopping at the door he looked back and said "remember, if you hurt her" with a sly smile Ethan replied back "yes, I know, I will end up in the pine barrons" Sonny just started laughing and walked out the door. He found Kristina sitting in a chair in the hallway. She looked at him and said "well?" "well everything is fine dear" he said as he kissed her forhead "I told him that I gave my consent, go in and see him, I left him in one piece" "thanks Dad, I love you" she said as she hugged him and kissed his cheek. Then she walked back into Ethan's room. He had this little sly smile on his face "what's going on?" she said as she walked back into the room and sat on the side of the bed. He was hiding something and she knew it "ok, so tell me what is going on, you know I can read you" she said "did my Dad do something? Do I need to go scream at him" she said as she started to get off of the bed. Ethan grabbed her arm "no love, nothing like that, please sit down" he said as he gently pulled her back onto the bed. Ethan took a deep breath and took Kristina' hand in his "I am sorry love that I have not been able to get you a ring yet" Kristina laughed as she put her other hand on his face "Dear, you have been in surgery and almost died twice, I think you have a get out of jail free card for the lack of ring. Anyway, I do not need one, I would settle for a ring out of the cracker jack box as long as it was from you" she said as she kissed him softly. Man he loved the feel of her lips, so soft and sweet. "how did I get so lucky to have you as my fiance?" he asked her. She leaned closer to him "say that again" she said softly "my fiance" he said sweetly and kissed her. "that is all that I need" she said "well I need you to do me a favor, close your eyes" he said "why?" she questioned "just do it please love" he said to her. Kristina put her hands over her eyes and Ethan pulled out the ring and put it in front of her "ok, open your eyes" she opened her eyes and gasp "Ethan, where did you get this" she said with a shocked tone "don't worry love it is not stolen" he said as he took the ring out of the box and took her hand. "You Dad gave it to me, he said it was your great grandmother's ring and he wanted you to have it. So Kristina Corinthos Davis, will you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me" he said as he slipped the ring on her finger and she started to cry "yes, yes, yes" she said and he pulled her in and kissed her. Just at that moment the door opened and Lulu and Dante walked in..."what is this I hear about a wedding?" she said. Kristina looked at Ethan and laughed "I guess good news really does travel fast" she said...


	27. Chapter 27

the next few days were kind of a blurr for Kristina. Ethan was still in the hospital so she signed up for her college classes at PCU. She got lucky with the job hunt as Lulu offered her an assistant job at the Haunted Star. She said that she can help with the books and help keep her and Johnny's appointments straight. "we need to keep it all in the family don't we, and you are going to be family" Lulu said and hugged Kristina "I have always wanted a sister and I don't think I could ask for a better one than you since you make my brother so happy" she continued. "thanks so much Lulu, you do not know what that means to me" Kristina began and at that moment Maxie walked in with Dim. "Hey girl, I just saw your fiance, he is looking so much better" Dim said as he gave her a hug. "Kristina, are you sure you want to do this" Maxie asked her "you have your whole life to settle down, you should be enjoying your freedom" "Stop that Maxie" Lulu told her "she is in love and she has found the man she wants to marry, so leave her alone!" Maxie just looked at Lulu, made a gross face and turned back to Kristina "ok, so tell me, have you looked for any wedding dresses yet?" "Not really" she replied back not realizing till just them that she had not done any looking "ok, then I will help you, I will find you the perfect wedding dress" Maxie said happily "oh Maxie that is really sweet but I cannot afford the type of dresses that you have access too. Do not worry, I am sure I will find something" She said back to Maxie her heart sinking. She  
wanted to look amazing on her wedding day, something to make Ethan proud but how could she, she refused to let her parents help. "Kristina, I have a lot of people that owe me favors in the design world, all I have to do is make a call and we can get you a dress that you can afford that will make you look like a princess, so tell me what you would like for your dress" Maxie insisted as she pulled Kristina to a table. Dim took at look at both of them and decided to bolt "I'm going to get out of here, not that I do not love that I am in a room with three beautiful ladies but all this wedding talk is not for me" he leaned over and gave Maxie a kiss on the cheek which made Kristina smile "call me later" she said to him. He winked back at her and walked out "so what is going on with you two?" Kristina asked her and she could have sworn she saw Maxie blush a little, she couldn't believe it "he is a nice guy, but that is it" she said but Kristina could tell that was not all. So could Lulu "yeah right!" she said as she sat down two drinks for them. "whatever Lulu" Maxie said as she threw her napkin at her "oh just admit it, you like him" Lulu said back to her as she stood there with her eyebrow raised at Maxie "ok, fine, I like him a lot" Maxie said "there are you happy?" she asked Lulu to which Lulu replied "yes, very" and she walked away. "Ok, anyway Kristina, let's get back to what kind of dress you want. Describe it for me" she said. Kristina thought for awhile and said "ok, I want it white of course, strapless, not to frilly or fluffy and lots of lace. Her eyes got all bright thinking about it. "ok, something like this?" Maxie said and pulled out a book of dresses. She turned the page  
and pointed at one. Kristina thought it was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen. It was fitted around the bottice, flowed out at the waist and had a pink belt. "That is absolutely beautiful" she said, not being able to drag her eyes away from it. "ok, give me a second" Maxie said and picked up her phone and walked over to the corner of the bar. Lulu came over and sat down "what is she up to?" she asked "I am not 100% sure" she replied back to Lulu. A few minutes later Maxie came back over "ok, I have a fitting set up for you tomorrow" "what do you mean a fitting, I cannot afford this dress Maxie" Kristina said sadly. "Kristina, I told you that I could get this for you and I did. All you are going to have to pay is $50" Maxie said and Kristina almost spit out her drink "$50 are you serious?" she said as Maxie got this huge smile on her face "yep, that is all, think you can afford that?" Kristina lept out of her seat and hugged Maxie "ok, ok, enough mushyness" she said to Kristina "thank you, thank you, thank you" Kristina kept saying over and over. "that is really sweet of you Maxie" Lulu said to her. Maxie got this uncomfortable look on her face and said "well just meet me here tomorrow and we will go to the fitting together" to Kristina. "I have to get out of here, to much love in this place" she said with a smile, picked up her bag and walked out. "I cannot believe she helped me like that" Kristina said to Lulu. "well you just got to see what only a few people get to see, the giving, caring side of Maxie Jones" Kristina was so excited, she could not believe her luck, a job and a dress in the same day. She could not wait to get to the hospital to tell Ethan...


	28. Chapter 28

Ethan was sitting in his hospital bed flipping channels when there was a knock on the door and Johnny came in. "how you feeling dude?" he asked as he pulled the chair up next to Ethan's bed. "I am getting restless just sitting here, I just want to get out of here and get back to" "get back to Kristina huh?" Johnny finished for him with a chuckle "what is so funny about that?" Ethan asked him "oh nothing man, nothing at all. I am happy for you. It was about time you saw what I had seen for awhile" Johnny said smiling "oh yes, I know, you knew it, I didn't...I was stupid mate, I get it" Ethan replied back. "So tell me Johnny, what happened to Brian? What did you end up doing with him" "do you really want to know?" Johnny asked him "damn straight I want to know mate, he tried to" he stopped not being able to get the words out "I know" Johnny said with this hatred coming across his face "I saw what he was doing to her too man" "so what happened to him Johnny" Ethan asked him "well it will be one of the only times that I worked with Sonny and Jason on anything" he told him with a little laugh "really?" Ethan said a little stunned "yeah, I was just going to kill him, for what he did to you and for what he did to Kristina, I think Sonny wanted to as well and trust me Sonny got some licks in, but it was Jason that actually made us see reason, so don't worry the man is gone and will never be a problem again, but he is not dead and that is all you need to know" Ethan thought for a moment and just said "ok". A few moments of silence went by "so tell me mate, Carly? Really?" Ethan said with a laugh "hey, don't hate, the woman is amazing" Johnny said back to him. "Yeah, I know what amazing is all about" Ethan said with a smile on his face. "Oh I bet you do" Johnny said back to him laughing. Patrick came in a moment later "So you ready to get out of here Ethan?" he asked "oh hell yes, get me out of here now" he replied back joyfully "Johnny will you take me to my apartment? I want to surprise Kristina!" "sure I can take you there, but she is not going to be there" Johnny started "why not?" Ethan asked worriedly."She has been staying at Lulu and Dante's while you were in here. She said she couldn't stay there alone. I guess she was still a little freaked out by everything that happened. Didn't she tell you?" "No, she didn't tell me that" Ethan said saddened "Maybe she just didn't want to worry you" Johnny tried to explain "well she told you didn't she?" Ethan replied back rather salty "oh please man, I only know because I work with her and Lulu and I was there when they were talking, it is not like she seeked me out, so stop the jealousy and let's get you out of here" An hour later Ethan was at the apartment pacing back and forth, he could not relax. He heard keys in the door and Kristina come running through the door "Ethan, what the hell? I went to the hospital looking for you and had a freak out when I saw the bed was empty! Epipthany told me that you had been released. Why didn't you call me?" she said with a mixture of anger and worried in her voice "Johnny was there and I wanted to surprise you" he said sweetly as he walked over to her and grabbed her hand "do you forgive me?" he said as he pulled her close to him and kissed her "um, maybe" she said coyly "maybe?" Ethan said as he kissed her again, this time for longer and with a lot more passion "yeah, I guess I can forgive you" she said sweetly back to him and hugged him "I am so glad you are home" she said "yeah, now you can sleep in your own bed instead of on the couch at Dante's" he said as he lifted her head with his hand to look in her eyes "why didn't you tell me that you were not staying here?" "I didn't want to worry you, you had to heal. Are you angry that I didn't tell you?" she said with this sad look in her eyes that shot Ethan right in the heart "No love, I am not mad at you, not at all" he said as he kissed her forehead "I will admit that I was a little jealous that Johnny knew and I didn't" he started "really Ethan, jealous of Johnny" Kristina said as this smile crept over her face "yes jealous" he said as he pulled her closer "I love you so it is going to happen from time to time" he said jokingly. He took his hand and led him to the couch "you need to rest a little" she said as they both sat down "I have rested enough" he said as he pulled her close to him. He started kissing her neck and whispered in her ear "I have missed the feel of you, the taste of you" and he started kissing her neck and earlobe, Kristina could barely contain herself, she loved the feel of his lips on her body "Ethan, you are still healing, we shouldn't do this now" she said breathlessly as he continued to kiss her. "Just be gentle with me" he said with a devilish smile on his face. Kristina took his hand and led him to the bedroom "I will be very gentle" she said sweetly as she put her arms around his neck and kissed him. His hands on her body ignited a fire inside of her, he slowly undressed her and started kissing her passionately...the feel of his body next to hers...she had her man home...her fiance'


	29. Chapter 29

Ethan woke up the next morning to the sound of Kristina moaning and stirring in her sleep, he rubbed her hair and said "it's ok Love, you are fine, I am here, nobody is going to hurt you" He laid there a little longer with Kristina curled up beside him just watching her. She was so beautiful he thought to himself as he stroked her hair. Kristina opened her eyes and looked up at him sleepily "good morning beautiful" he said to her as he leaned over and kissed her "good morning back" she replied as she rubbed her hand on his bare chest. "Your phone was ringing a little bit ago, but I didn't want to wake you, so you might want to check it" he said to her. Kristina contemplated getting up out of bed, she was so comfortable curled up beside of Ethan, but she knew she had too, so she kissed his chest and got out of bed to check her phone. "oh Maxie texted me, she is just going to come here to pick me up for my fitting" Kristina stated "fitting?" Ethan questioned "yeah I didn't get to tell you last night since we were um kinda busy" she said as she came back over and sat on the bed "Maxie found me the perfect wedding dress, it is so beautiful, wait till you see it! So she set up a fitting for me this morning" "really, that was fast, a dress already" Ethan said and Kristina's face turned white "what, your not having second thoughts already are you? well I guess it would be understandable, you are Luke's son and we did move kinda fast" her heart skipping a beat. Ethan grabbed her hand "no Love, no second thoughts, don't you ever even think that" he said as he kissed her hand and put it on his chest. Kristina's face lit back up with a huge smile "don't scare me like that Ethan Lovett" she said as she threw a pillow at him. He grabbed her and started tickling her "stop Ethan, come on stop" she yelled while laughing hysterically, then he put his lips to her neck and started kissing her, he could not get enough of her. "Ethan" Kristina said breathlessly "I need to get ready, Maxie will be here soon" so he let her go and watched her walk to the bathroom to get ready. "what are you going to be doing today?" she yelled from the bathroom. "Most likely just hanging around here, maybe I will go visit Luke or something" he replied back. Ethan's phone started ringing, so he grabbed it and saw it was Lulu "well hello there my favorite sister" he said "Hello back, Dante and I were wondering if you and Kristina had any plans for tonight? If you do cancel them because we want to take you out to dinner" Lulu said to him kinda demanding "Kristina? Dante and Lulu want to take us out to dinner tonight, is that cool with you?" he yelled to Kristina "of course, just find out what time" she answered back "she said it was cool with her, so what time do you want us to meet?" he said to Lulu "meet us at the Haunted Star at 7pm, we will go from there, see you then" she said "ok, see you later" and they hung up. Kristina came out of the bathroom just as there was a knock on the door. "Coming" she yelled. When she opened the door she found Maxie and Dim "Hey there mate" Ethan said when he saw him "I figured I would just hang out with you today since our ladies will be spending the day together" "sounds good to me" he said back. Kristina went over to Ethan, hugged him and whispered in his ear "don't get into to much trouble today without me" "don't worry love" he said back and kissed her.

The day went by in a whirl for Kristina, the dress was positively beautiful. She was going to need several fittings but the seamstress was amazing and Maxie was a tremendous help. When Maxie dropped Kristina off, she ran up to the apartment and found Ethan asleep on the couch. She sat beside him and kissed his cheek "did you have fun today?" he asked her as he rubbed his eyes "it was magical" she said back "now, we have to get ready to go meet Lulu and Dante, I have to find something to wear" she said as she got up and tried to pull him off of the couch. She headed to the closet because she had seen a few dresses that belonged to Sam still in there and one she thought would be perfect for tonight since Ethan had never seen it. She put the dress on and curled her hair. When she stepped out of the room she saw Ethan in a white button down shirt and black jeans. A flush of heat came across her cheeks as she stared at him. He turned around to look at her and his jaw dropped "Kristina you look beautiful" he said. She had picked out this strapless black dress that came to above her knees and was form fitting, it was simple but affective she thought to herself. He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her "you sure you want to go out" and he kissed her neck "we could stay here and find ways to entertain ourselves" his breath warm on her neck. She got a little weak in the knees but responded "no, we promised so we are going to go meet them, we can entertain ourselves later" she said as she kissed his cheek and broke free of him. About 20 minutes later they headed into the Haunted Star. "that is weird" Ethan said to her "it looks like nobody is here, none of the lights are on" but as soon as he said that the lights flashed on and they heard "Surprise! Happy Engagement" Kristina blinked and looked around, there was all of their friends and family. She could not believe that even Luke had showed up. She felt tears welling up in her eyes "Oh my goodness, thank you all" she started "this is crazy" Ethan replied back as Johnny came up and shook his hand "when did you decide to throw this?" he asked him with his eyebrow raised "oh this was not my doing, it was theirs" as he pointed to Lulu, Sam and Molly. Molly came running up to them and gave them both a hug "I am so happy for you both" she said "thanks sis" Ethan replied back to her and Molly got this huge smile on her face. "Ok, ok, you two come sit over here" Lulu said as she escorted them over to their table. Kristina looked around and could not believe all of the people that came out for them. A little while later the music was blaring and they were all having a great time. Kristina and Ethan were so pre-occupied that they did not notice Johnny go up to the stage. The music was stopped and Johnny started talking "hello ladies and gentleman, we here at the haunted star would like to welcome you to the engagement party of the love birds of Port Charles and abroud...the con man Ethan Lovett and the mob princess Kristina Davis. Ethan and Kristina just looked at eachother and laughed. Johnny continued "at this time, I would like to bring up a few guys from the audience, Michael, Patrick, Dante and Dim can you please join me up here. All of them got up and walked to the stage. Ethan looked at Kristina, something was going on but they were not sure what it was. Lulu had sat down beside of her with a wad of cash in her hand. The guys all lined up beside eachother on the stage, it went Johnny, Michael, Patrick and Dim. Johnny looked at them and said "I think we need one more guy for this, Ethan come up here" he said with a smile "oh no, you guys are just fine" Ethan said "go on Ethan, there is a $20 in it for you" Lulu said to him "what do you have planned" he asked her "just go up there" she said back. He looked at Kristina and she had this huge smile on her face "do it baby" she said and kissed him "Awwwhhh" Johnny said "now get up here Lovett!" So Ethan got up and walked to the stage. Johnny made him stand at the other end of the line beside of Dim "just follow us" Johnny said. All the guys had their backs to the audience and then the music started and "I'm Sexy and I Know It" started blarring out of the speakers. Kristina could see Ethan start to laugh and shake his head. Lulu handed her some ones, along with Robin, Maxie, Carly and Starr. Johnny started off turning to his side and flexing his right arm, so one by one the guys followed till Ethan, he laughed some more and followed along, flexing his muscles as well. Kristina let out a loud whistle and started laughing. The dancing was crazy, all of them shaking their hips, flexing their muscles and wiggling their butts. Kristina could not contain her laughter, it was the greatest thing she had ever seen. She was there waving her dollars along with all the other ladies. Robin yelled out "take it off" and the guys all took their shirts off. "WOOHOO" Maxie and Carly both yelled. Once the song had ended all of them walked up to the stage and put the money in their boyfriend/fiance/husbands pockets. Ethan gave Kristina a sly smile when she put the money in his, reached down and kissed her. The room broke out into applause. Both Kristina and Ethan started laughing. When she sat back down she said "I hope somebody got that on film" "oh I did" she heard Molly say with laughter "awesome you better send that to me" she said back with a smile as she grabbed Ethan's hand "I would like to watch that over and over" "oh your so funny" he said back a little out of breath...


	30. Chapter 30

Ethan and Kristina were having the time of their lives at their engagement party. Kristina had broken away from the table and went over to her mom and Sam. She hugged her mom and then Sam, thanking them for all of this. "so, I noticed that Dad is not here" Kristina said a little sad "is he not coming at all?" "he will be here dear" Alexis said reassuringly "he just had to make a stop first" "Jason should be coming with him" Sam said, gazing toward the door, then she looked at Kristina "hey, is that my dress?" she asked with her eyebrow raised "yes, I found it in the closet, so I thought you didn't want it anymore, do you mind?" she said sheepishly "nope, not at all, it looks great on you" Sam replied and gave her a hug "you keep it". Luke had walked over to Ethan's table and leaned in "so what do you think dodge, should we grace them with another performace?" Ethan gave him a sly smile and headed up to the stage. They decided to do "cat scratch fever" again and killed it. Kristina made her way back to her table and just watched Ethan in awe. He would catch her staring at him and wink at her. She started to blush and said "damn" under her breath. Liz had sat down beside her and started laughing "I know girl, it is hard to be in love with a Spencer man isn't it?" "you have that right" Kristina replied back. She had heard that Liz and Lucky were back together but then Lucky had to leave for a job "so how are you and Lucky doing?" Kristina asked her "well we talk everyday and he talks to the kids every night. I think Jake misses him the most. It is hard when they leave to do some kind of job, you miss them like crazy" Kristina's heart sank for Liz and for herself. She had not thought till just then that Ethan could leave to run some con or something. She tried to push that thought out of her mind as she watched Luke and Ethan sing on stage but the more she watched the more she saw how alike they were. Would he leave her too for months on end like Luke does all the time? She started to get a lump deep in her stomach. The song ended and Kristina pasted a smile back on her face. When Ethan came over he could see right thru it "what is wrong love?" he asked as he caressed her arm. "nothing really" she said back, trying to keep the smile on her face "come on, you know you cannot fool me, I can see it in your eyes" damn she thought, why did he have to be able to read her so well "well it was something that Liz said to me got me thinking" she began and took a deep breath "when we get married, am I going to have to worry about you leaving me to go off on some adventure somewhere like Luke does all the time and like Lucky just did to Liz? I know you are a Spencer and you love your adventure and I do not want to hold you back" Ethan got this huge smile on his face "it is not funny Ethan" she said angrily "no love it is not" he said as he took her hand "let me tell you like this, the only adventures I will be going on from now on will be with you. You could never hold me back, you are my world, don't you know that" Kristina moved herself to his lap, put her arms around his neck and kissed him "I am sure we can have lots of fun adventures" she said coyly to him. Ethan could feel the heat build up in him and the fact that her perfect body was on his lap did not help "oh I am sure we will, one later on tonight" he said as he kissed her cheek. "Look" Ethan said a few seconds later "Your dad just walked in" Kristina turned around and saw Sonny. When he saw her a huge smile came across his face and he walked over to them. Ethan got up and shook his hand "thank you for coming Sonny, it means so much to both of us" "Yes Dad, thank you for coming" Kristina continued as she got up and hugged him. "I had to come, your my little girl" Sonny said a little chocked up "I got you both a present" he said as he started to pull something out of his pocket "no Dad, you didn't have to do that" Kristina said to him "I kinda figured you would say that" he said back to her "I wanted to get you a honeymoon but I thought you would not let me pay for all of that" "your right Dad" Kristina interuppted "but I thought that maybe you would accept staying on my island for two weeks as your honeymoon" Kristina looked at Ethan "what do you think Love" he asked her. A very bright smile crept across her face "that sounds amazing Dad, we accept" and she hugged him really tightly. "Yes, thank you Sir" Ethan said to him and shook his hand. "You take good care of my girl" Sonny said as he kissed Kristina on the cheek and walked over to talk to Jason. Ethan took Kristina by the hands and said "oh I will" and then he leaned down and kissed her...


	31. Chapter 31

Later on that night as the party was dying down, Ethan was helping Lulu clean up some of the mess while Kristina and Starr talked in the corner. He continued picking up glasses and plates and putting them on the bar to take to the back. He looked back over and saw Kristina and Starr talking to a very tall man with light brown hair and a scar on his face. "Lulu, who is that?" he asked her, pointing toward Kristina. She looked over and said "Oh that is Todd Manning, Starr's father. He came in here a few days ago to see Johnny about Starr's contract and he and Kristina hit it off". Ethan looked him up and down, he knew him from somewhere but he could not place it. Ethan placed the glasses on the bar and walked over to Kristina and Starr. When he got close he heard Kristina say "thank you so much for the offer Mr. Manning, I am happy working here at the moment but I will keep it in mind" as she smiled and shook his hand. "what kind of offer" Ethan asked as he walked up behind Kristina and put his hands on her shoulders. Kristina jumped a little because she didn't realized he was there "Oh hey baby, Mr. Manning just offered me a job. He bought Crimson out from Kate when all the stuff went down and he wants to start it up again. He already has Maxie on board and she recommended me. Oh Ethan, this is Mr. Todd Manning , Starr's father, Mr. Manning, this is my fiancé Ethan" she said as Ethan and Todd shook hands "Nice to meet you Mr. Manning" Ethan said "Call me Todd, I have already told that to Kristina, by the way, love the hair" he said which made Starr giggle. "Kristina, this would be a great opportunity for you" Ethan began, grabbing her hand. "You always have wanted to go into design and fashion and you and Maxie could blow this out of the water" "But Ethan, I made a commitment to Johnny and Lulu, I cannot go back on that now" she stated back to him "commitment to me about what?" Johnny said as he walked by "I just offered Kristina an amazing job and she is refusing because of some commitment to you" Todd said looking disgusted at Johnny. Kristina filled Johnny in on the job "take it Kristina" he told her. "Nobody expected you to stay here the rest of your life doing our books. Take the job" She looked at Ethan with such confusion "what do you think I should do" she asked him "take the job" he said "Johnny has already given his approval and I am sure Lulu will be all for it as well" A huge smile came across her face and Starr's face "ok, I accept! When do I start?" Todd just laughed "I don't handle that kind of thing Kristina, when you own the company that is not your concern" "No seriously, talk to Maxie about that and you two work it out" "Thanks so much Mr. Manning, I mean Todd" Kristina said as she hugged him. Todd stiffened up and said "ok, ok, enough of that" but he had a huge smile on his face. "Come on Starr, I will take you home" "See you guys later" Starr said as she walked out with her dad. Kristina was beaming, Ethan loved seeing her glow like that…..now if he could just figure out where he knew Todd from…


	32. Chapter 32

A few weeks had gone by since the party and everything was crazy busy for Kristina and Ethan. Kristina had started her classes as PCU and she was working full time with Maxie as well, and Ethan was working to all hours of the night at the Haunted Star so they barely had any time to see eachother. Kristina and Maxie were sitting at their desks in the new "Manning" fashion magazine offices "Maxie, I am not sure what to do, Ethan and I have been working non stop for weeks. What do you think I should do to get some time with him?" Maxie thought for a moment and a huge smile came across her face "well, you have this weekend free right, no classes and work because of the holiday, why don't you call Lulu to see if she will give him the weekend off and you make it special for him" "that is not a bad idea" she started to say as Todd and Carly walked into the office. They all exchanged hello's and Todd went to talk to Maxie about the latest issue. Carly came over to Kristina's desk and sat down "so how is everything going? How is the job and Ethan? Johnny says he is doing an amazing job there" "He is, he loves it there. Things are good, we just have not been able to see each other that much lately due to school and our works. Maxie and I were just talking about maybe me planning something for this weekend but I am not sure what" she told Carly. She always valued Carly's opinion. She thought she was a strong, fierce woman who knew what she wanted and how to get it which she liked so she asked "how would you do it?" to which Carly replied "well I think what you should do is bring him here to the Metro Court, I will give you one of the suites for tonight and tomorrow night, you can get massages, go swimming, order room service, or just never leave the bedroom, whichever you want" "Carly, that would be amazing, but are you sure" Kristina said smiling "of course I am sure" Kristina jumped up out of the chair and hugged her "So what is all of this about?" Todd asked Carly "young love, it is so romantic" Carly replied back to him "Kristina" Todd said as he put his hand on her shoulder "are you sure you want to get married and settle down. All love does is leave you hurt and lonely" "Todd stop that!" Carly said back to him. Kristina smiled at him "It's ok Todd, You sound just like Maxie. I have seen many marriages crash and burn, a lot of them my father's, No offense Carly" "None taken sweety" "but I know deep down in my heart that Ethan loves more than anything and I love him. There is nothing we would not do for each other" Todd gave her this look but said "ok, your call" patted her on the shoulder and headed toward the elevator as he did he looked back at her and said "but I know guys with hair like that and they cannot be trusted, just to shiny" Kristina started laughing and said "thanks, I will keep that in mind". "Kristina, the room will be waiting for you whenever you get here, ok?" Carly said as she  
followed Todd to the elevator "thank you again Carly" she said back to her. Once they left Maxie looked at Kristina "that man is a trip, but I think I like working for him more than Kate. So what did Carly offer" Kristina filled her in and then went and called Lulu. Lulu was all for it and told Kristina she would handle telling Ethan he did not have to work this weekend. She and Maxie finished up their work, the first full layout of the new "MANNING" and she headed home to start her weekend with Ethan. She made one stop though at a local lingere store and picked out two really sexy pieces for the following nights. When she got home she found Ethan on the couch, he looked angry "Hi Honey" she said as she walked in "hey" he said back. "what's wrong?" "well Lulu just called and said she didn't need me for this weekend, that she had it handled. I don't understand what she is doing, I need to be there to oversea it all" Kristina could tell that he was a little upset and confused because before Lulu had needed him for tons of help in the bar, he couldn't understand why this weekend was different. A sly smile crept across her face as she walked up beside of him and sat down. "well look on the bright side, at least you can spend some time with me" she said coyly and looked up at him. Damn he thought, she is so beautiful "that is the only good thing about this" he said as he kissed her "it has been awhile since we have been together and not asleep" he said hugging her. "well I have a surprise for you" she started "a surprise, what kind of surprise?" he said looking at her suspisiously "Nothing for you to worry about, I just want you to go into the bedroom and pack a small bag, just for two days" "what are you talking about Kristina?" "just do it, bring your bathing suit and a few changes of clothes, one nice shirt" "Seriously Kristina, what is going on?" he asked her "can't you just do this, for me?" she said batting her eyelashes at him and taking his hand "oh no, not the eyes, ok I cave" he said as Kristina jumped up and down and said "goodie" and ran to the bedroom to pack her things. She also grabbed the bag of lingerie and put that in her suitcase as well. When they got to the Metro Court and got out of their car Ethan looked at her puzzled "why are we here? Did you forget something at work?" "nope, we are staying here for the weekend. Since we have not been able to have anytime together for a few weeks now, I decided to do something nice and Carly offered us one of the suites and said we have complete access to everything, pool, massages, racquetball" "racquetball really" Ethan looked at her smiling "can't you see me playing that now" Kristina giggled and took his hand "so what do you think?" she said. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him, kissed her and then said with a sly smile "I think we need to get to the room"...


	33. Chapter 33

Ethan was all hands when they were in the elevator and Kristina loved every minute of it. As soon as the doors shut he had put his arms around her waist and pulled her to him so her back as against his chest. He started kissing the back of her neck which made Kristina's knees shake. Then he turned her around and kissed her with a hunger that Kristina could sense and she loved. She felt it all the way in her toes. Once they got to their rooms Ethan put the bags on the ground and looked at her "you are beautiful" as he walked closer to her. She put her arm out and said "wait, just a few minutes, hold that thought" she picked up her bag, ran up next to him, kissed him on the cheek and ran to the bedroom. Ethan was wondering what she was doing in the room, every part of his body ached for her, to be touching her and kissing her. How could he have gone this long without being with her? I never thought it was possible to love somebody this much and then he smiled to himself. Just then the bedroom door opened. He turned around and his heart skipped a beat. There is the doorway was Kristina in a lace black teddy that did not leave much to the imagination. The light from the bedroom gave her body this glow. His jaw dropped "So, do you see anything that you might like?' She asked him coyly as she walked over to him "um, um" he tried to speak but couldn't "what do you think?" she said when she reached him and ran her fingers thru his hair which made Ethan moan "he took her hand and spun her around slowly. "you are the most beautiful, sexiest woman that I have ever seen" he said to her as he pulled her close. He ran his hand up and down her back as he kissed her. She tasted like heaven to him and he didn't want to stop. "I love you Ethan" she said between kisses. He stopped, cradled her face in his hands and said "I love you more than anything in this world Kristina Davis" and he kissed her, this one was even more passionate than the last time, Kristina's knees started to buckle but Ethan picked her up and carried her into the bedroom. He put her on the bed and then looked at her, this hunger in his eyes. "that looks amazing on you" Ethan said pointing to her teddy "But I think it needs to go" and with that Ethan was kissing her neck as he pulled one strap down. Kristina smiled and let herself fall into his embrace...her plan going according to plan...


	34. Chapter 34

Ethan and Kristina were laying in bed, he had his arms wrapped around her with her back against his chest. "so did you like my surprise?" she said as she turned herself to be facing him. He kissed her on the forhead "I loved your surprise, this is just what we needed" "so you are not mad at me for asking Lulu to give you the weekend off?" she asked as she ran her hands thru his hair. He turned his head so her hand would touch his face and he kissed it "I kinda figured that happened when you told me you had a surprise, and no I am not mad, why would I be, this is amazing" he leaned over and kissed her "and you are extremely amazing" he said and kissed her again. Kristina ran her hand down his arm, she loved the feel of his muscles. He pulled her closer to him, his arms tightly around her. She laid her head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. She felt safe, warm and loved. "Ethan, I am so lucky to have you in my life" she said looking up at him. He looked down at her, her beautiful brown eyes looking at him lovingly. "Love, I am the lucky one, you gave me another chance after all the times I turned you away. I was stupid and you still loved me" Kristina took her foot and kicked him in the shin "Ouch" "what have I told you about calling the man I love stupid?" she said sternly but with a smile on her face. He grabbed her and pulled her tighter into his embrace "Kristina, you are amazing, you have always supported me and you drive me to be a better man and person" "Ethan, you are the greatest man there is. You are my hero, my confidant, you listened to me when nobody else cared to bother, so no matter what you say, I know I am very lucky to call Ethan Lovett my fiance' and one day be known as Kristina Lovett" "say that again" he whispered to her "Kristina Lovett" she said softly "I think that sounds perfect" he said as he kissed her softly, then the kisses turn more passionate and Ethan showed her how much he loved her. A few hours later Kristina was laying in bed. Ethan sat down on the edge of the bed and kissed her cheek. She rolled over and opened her eyes, then she rubbed them a few times because she could not believe what she was seeing. Ethan was sitting there in a pair of white tennis shorts, white socks pulled up to his knees, white sneakers and a white tennis shirt. He also had a sweatband on his head that said "metro court" across the front, his hair pulled back in a ponytail and a cheesy grin on his face "what the heck is this" Kristina said thru her laughter "what are you doing in that?" "well, I figured since you put forth all this effort to plan this surprise that I would go all out, so I called the desk and Carly had these tennis clothes set up. You like tennis right?" he said smiling "yes, I like tennis, but um, you didn't need to do all of this" she said still laughing "it was worth it just to see that smile on your face" he said as he kissed her forehead. "now get up, Carly sent you up some clothes as well, we have a court reserved in 15 minutes" he got up off of the bed and Kristina noticed his chain hooked onto his white shorts and started laughing hysterically. He turned around, smiled at her and said "you know your love it" and walked out of the room. She did love it, she loved his crazy ass. Kristina walked out of the bedroom a little later is her tennis gear, Ethan turned around and said "whoa, where are you going in that? where is the rest of the skirt?" Kristina looked at herself "this is the skirt Ethan, this is how tennis skirts are" He just looked her up and down "oh come on Ethan, I am going to be with you, who is going to look at me" "every man with half a brain" he said back "ok, let's go" And they headed to the courts. Ethan walking the whole way with his racket on his shoulder and a cheesy grin on his face. This was going to be fun she thought...


	35. Chapter 35

Kristina helped Ethan back into the room a few hours later. He had his arm around her shoulder and was out of breath "well I guess I am not in as good of shape as you" he said breathlessly as he fell onto the couch. Kristina smiled "well I don't know about that" she said as she looked at him taking his shirt off. "you certainly tried, but that pesky net kept getting in the way" "oh you think your funny huh?" he asked as he pulled her onto his lap "yep, very funny" and he started to tickle her. A knock came on the door so Kristina got up and answered it. Carly was standing on the other side "I am sorry to both you both" she said then she got a glimpse of Ethan in his tennis outfit and busted out laughing "um anyway" she contined "I had a proposition for Ethan" Ethan looked up interested "what's that?" he asked "well, I was talked into having a high stakes poker game down in the backroom and if I am not mistaken one of the guys is cheating, but I cannot figure out how. I went to Luke first since you two are spending time together but he is out at the moment, so if you don't mind do you think you both can go down and get in on the game and win some of our money back? Kristina could tell that Ethan was very intriqued "Don't worry about the money" Carly continued "I will stake you, just win the money back" Kristina looked at Ethan with a sly smile "Do it babe, your the best" "ok, I'm in" "Awesome, just do me one favor, change first" "No problem" he said back to her as Kristina started laughing again. "we will meet you at the desk in 30" Kristina said to Carly as she shut the door. She looked around at Ethan, he was grinning from ear to ear. They met Carly at the front desk and she led them to he back room game. "Hi Boys" she said as she walked in "this is Ethan, he would like to join in on the fun" One of the guys looked at Kristina and said "oh well the more the merrier, especially if they look like her" Ethan just looked at him and put his arm around Kristina. "Ok Ethan, have fun" Carly said as she left the room. Kristina watched Ethan in total amazement. He knew exactly what he was doing. He knew when to lose a hand and when to win big. He had won Carly's money back in about an hour and was up another $5000. Ethan played them all like a pro. "well sunshine, why don't you come over here by me, maybe you will be my good luck charm like you are his" one of the guys said to Kristina. She saw Ethan stiffen up, so she put her hand on his shoulder and told the guy "thanks for the offer, but I like being only his good luck charm" Ethan smiled behind his cards. Once they were up another $10K Ethan decided it was time to call it a night. "ok fella's we are out of here, thanks for the game" he said. He got up and started to walk toward the door, Kristina behind him. The guy that had spoken to Kristina before turned around and slapped her on the butt. Before Kristina had a chance to even say anything Ethan had him pinned up against the wall in a choke hold. "Don't you EVER touch my fiance again, do you understand me!" he said with a growl. "sorry man, sorry" the guys said back so Ethan dropped him and he fell to the floor. Kristina walked to the door and Ethan turned to follow. The guy got up and got ready to charge him "Ethan look-out" Kristina yelled and Ethan turned around and knocked him out cold with one punch. He put his arm around Kristina and they left. Kristina could tell that Ethan was angry, so she took the money to Carly while Ethan went up to the room. She wanted to give him a few minutes to calm down and breath. "What happened in there?" Carly asked so Kristina filled her in "well he will not play in that room again, nobody touches my ex-step daughter, I'm glad Ethan knocked him out cold" She gave Carly the money and Carly handed her $10k of it "here give this to Ethan, tell him thanks for the help" Kristina went up to the room and opened the door. She could not find Ethan, she finally found him out on the balcony just looking at the city lights. She walked up behind him and put her arms around his waist "are you ok?" "not really" he said back and she could tell that he was still fuming "why did you have to wear something like that?" Kristina could not believe what she was hearing. How dare he "I'm sorry what? How dare you try to blame what happened on me? You happen to like the way I dress remember" she started screaming and he knew he had messed up "How dare you Ethan, seriously" and she stormed off to the bedroom. He could not believe that he had even said that to her. He didn't mean it. He had to make this right to her...


	36. Chapter 36

He went and knocked on the door "Kristina, can I come in?" he asked as he opened the door. He could see her sitting on the edge of the bed crying. It shot him right in the heart, he had done this to her. He went and sat next to her on the bed. "Kristina, I am so very sorry, I did not mean that at all. I was angry at that guy and it drives me crazy when other guys even look at you" he took her hands, she didn't pull them away, good he thought "I know you are beautiful and it is bound to happen and I am sorry I said anything about your clothes, you can dress however you want whenever you want. It had nothing to do with what you were wearing, the guy was a complete ass" he looked at her pleading for her to acknowledge him. She took a deep breath and turned her head to face him "you know what I went thru with Keifer, how he made me feel like everything was always my fault" she started and Ethan interrupted her "I NEVER want to be that type of person to you" he said "I know Ethan, and you are not that type of guy" "so...do you forgive me?" he asked her looking at her with his puppy dog eyes. She couldn't resist "ok" she said softly and he picked her up off of the bed and swung her around "I love you so much and I am so sorry to have hurt you" he said still swinging her around "ok Ethan, but I think I am going to be sick if you don't put me down" so he sat her back on the bed. "Look, we are going to fight, it is going to happen. All couples do about one thing or another, we just need to agree right now that we will work thru it, talk thru everything" she said looking up at him. He sat back down beside her "I promise" as he wiped the ters away and kissed her. "I think I am going to go take a shower" she said "you can join me if you want" she said to him with a coy look as she walked into the bathroom. Damn, Ethan thought to himself. I really am going to have to get a handle on this jealousy thing because she is gorgeous. Then he took off his clothes and joined Kristina in the shower...


	37. Chapter 37

It had been several weeks since their weekend in the hotel and things were going amazing for both of them. Kristina was aceing her classes and MANNING was one of the highest rated fashion magazines. Todd was pushing both Maxie and Kristina for the best and they loved all of it. Ethan's job was going great as well, he had gotten the bar running in top shape and was also running high stakes poker games in the back room. The only bad thing going on with them right now was an ongoing debate about Todd. Ethan finally remember were he knew him from. It was from back when he was working in Ireland before Kristina was kidnapped. A guy named Patrick lived in the apartment above the bar and would throw darts at a guys picture. Ethan asked him one night who the guy was and he told him about the guy that raped his wife back in college and all of these other horrible things. It took Ethan awhile but he finally placed Todd as the guy in the picture. Kristina was shocked when he told her but she said she was not going to judge somebody by what they had done in the past "look at my father" she told him "he used to run a strip club, sold drugs to the girls and he is a mobster. And look at your father" Ethan wanted her to quit but he trusted her judgement and knew that she was right about Luke. He had changed and would never do something like that again so maybe Todd was the same way but he was just going to have to watch a little closer. Kristina was excited as it was christmas break and it would be her first christmas with Ethan as his fiance. She left work that day and went to see him at the Haunted Star. He was running a poker game in the back so she hung out with Lulu. "how is the wedding plans coming" Lulu asked her as she handed her a coke and sat down "well I finally got my dress and it is amazing, Maxie was phenominal" Kristina said beaming. She remembered when Maxie brought the dress to work and had her try it on right then. It fit her pefectly and she could not wait till Ethan saw her in it. She hid her dress at Sam's house so Ethan would not stumble onto it. She remembered the look on Sam's face when she saw her in it, and when she asked her to be her maid of honor. Sam started crying and told her she would love to. "what are you thinking about Krissy?" Lulu asked "oh what? I'm sorry Lulu. I was just thinking about my dress" Lulu laughed "yeah, you are a typical bride to be. Johnny said that Ethan asked him to be his best man" "Yeah, he said Johnny seemed happy" "oh he is, he has already been planning the bachelor party" Lulu told her with a laugh "I can just imagine" Kristina said back with a giggle. "Kristina, Can I tell you something" Lulu started and Kristina saw the worried looking at her face "what is wrong Lulu?" she asked as she took her hand "well I was not sure who to talk to about this and you have become like a sister to me" she started getting a little choked up "you can tell me anything Lulu" Kristina said caringly to her. Lulu took in a big breath and said "I'm pregant, and I haven't told Dante or anybody yet" Kristina jumped up and ran around the table and hugged Lulu tightly "oh my goodness, that is great news! Your going to be a mommy and Dante is going to be a daddy! I am so happy for you both!" "thanks Kristina, I am just concerned. Do you think Dante is going to be happy?" Lulu looked at her "Of course he is, he loves you so much, this is just going to add to his love" Kristina reassured her. She was still hugging Lulu when Ethan walked in "hey love, what is all this?" he asked her as Lulu and Kristina broke apart "oh nothing, just a girl moment" she said still smiling at Lulu "so did you win" Kristina asked trying to change the subject "of course! was there ever any doubt" he said with a cheesy grin. "my fiance, the card shark" she said smiling back at him as she put her arms around his neck "that is what you love about me" he said back to her as he kissed her gently. "So brother, are you ready for the big day, it is only a few days away" Lulu asked. "I have never been more ready to make this beautiful woman my wife" he said looking at Kristina with such a gaze that it made her blush. Kristina and Ethan had decided to get married on New Years Eve. They were going to keep it low key, just family and close friends. Carly had given them one of the halls that the metro court had for the wedding, this one was called "flower garden" it had tons of different greenery and flowers growing everywhere and when both Ethan and Kristina saw it they just knew they were meant to be married there. Kristina had gotten off track again thinking about the wedding so she didn't hear Ethan when he said "so what is the plan for Christmas tomorrow?" "Kristina?, Earth to the future Mrs Ethan Lovett" "Oh I'm so sorry honey, I was daydreaming again" She said "about the wedding no doubt" Lulu said laughing and Kristina smiled "so what was the question?" "what is the plan for tomorrow?" "well You and Dante will be at my Dad's house right?" she said looking at Lulu "so we can stop by and see Liz and the boys first and then head over to my Dad's. Do you think Luke will come there or should we go see him" She said to Ethan. Ethan and Lulu just looked at each other "what?" Kristina said "you didn't tell her Ethan?" Lulu asked him "no, not yet" he replied back "Luke took off, not sure where he is" Ethan said to her with a sadness in his voice "what do you mean took off, is he coming back? Is he going to be back in time for the wedding?" "I am not sure" Lulu said. Kristina just looked at Ethan. All this rage built up inside of her. She always liked Luke but how could he do this to his son right before his wedding "I'm sorry but that is messed up, how could he do that to you both" Kristina said looking at Ethan "It is ok Love, I will have you and Lulu there, so I will be ok" he said kissing her cheek, but deep down he was upset as well...but he didn't want Kristina to see it...


	38. Chapter 38

A few hours later Kristina and Ethan were at home. Kristina was sitting by the Christmas tree wrapping presents for Cam, Jake and Aiden. She looked over to see Ethan sitting on the couch, he was just looking at his cell phone, flipping it around in his hand. She got up and walked over to him "Hey honey, are you sure your ok?" she asked him as she sat down beside of him and put her hand on his hand and cell phone. He looked up at her like she had shocked him back to reality "I'm sorry Love, what did you say" "I asked if you were ok. I know your upset about Luke" Ethan just looked at her. "I am sure he is working on something important and I am sure he will be back in time for the wedding" she said trying to sooth his feelings. Ethan looked down at his phone again "have you tried calling him?" Kristina asked him "yeah, it goes right to voice mail" he answered her still looking down at his phone. Kristina took his cell phone, put it on the table, took his face in her hands and turned his head to face her. "Ethan, I know your upset that he is not here. I really hope that he does show up and most likely he will, right at the last minute, you know how Luke is" Ethan smiled a little "but if for some reason he doesn't then you will have Lulu there, Dim and Johnny and Me. I will be the one standing beside of you in a beautiful white dress saying how I want to spend the rest of my life with you and how much I love you" she leaned in and kissed him gently "how did I get so lucky?" he asked her as he took his hand and stroked her hair "your just blessed I guess" she said as she shrugged her shoulder and giggled.

/

Kristina woke up the next morning to the sound of giggling and laughing coming from the living room. She got up, put on her robe and walked out into the living room and saw Ethan and Maya kissing in front of the Christmas tree...the tree that Ethan and Kristina spent half of the night decorating. "What in the HELL is going on in here" Kristina screamed. Ethan and Maya pulled apart and Ethan started to laugh, his arm still around Maya "well Maya showed up this morning and said that she was not over me and that our marriage was still legal, so I jumped at the chance to be back with her" he pulled Maya closer to him and kissed her neck. "Ethan, we are getting married in 5 days, I was there when you got divorced, what do you mean you want to be with Maya and your still married" Kristina said tears welling up in her eyes, she thought she was going to be sick. "oh look Ethan, she is going to cry" Maya said "isn't that just sad?" she said giggling "shut the hell up, nobody asked you anything" Kristina said "oh look at the little girl trying to be a woman, Ethan deserves a real woman" Maya said as she leaned in and kissed Ethan. "Ethan" Kristina whispered "oh Kristina, you are a sweet kid, but we will be nothing more than that" and he kissed Maya again. "No Ethan, No" Kristina said and then she was jolted and she woke back up in bed, Ethan beside her asleep. Oh good it was a dream, she thought to herself and then the left over anger took over and she punched Ethan square in the arm. "owwww, what the heck Kristina" he said as he woke up and looked at her. "why did you do that?" he asked her, so she filled him in on the dream and he started laughing "it is not funny Ethan!" she said angrily. He put both arms around her and pulled her to him "come on Kristina, it was a dream. You know I was over Maya a long time ago. Yes, I thought I was in love with her, but honestly I didn't even have a clue what love was or I would have realized it is what I felt for you" Kristina started to giggle "what's so funny love?" he asked her "isn't this a great way to start our first Christmas morning together?" she said full on laughing now. Ethan started laughing as well "well I am sure it will not be the last fight of the day since we will be spending it with our combined families" he pulled her face to his and kissed her passionatly "Merry Christmas Kristina" "Merry Christmas Ethan" and she kissed him again "so do you want your present" he asked her and her eyes lit up. They headed out to the tree and both sat in front of it. Kristina had to laugh everytime she saw it. It was a combination of her and Ethan, it had pink and black balls (her favorite colors) and it had playing cards ornaments all over it. The lights played "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" and twinkled to the music. It was so tacky and she loved all of it. Ethan pulled out a small black velvet box and handed it to her. Kristina opened it and saw the the most beautiful necklace she had ever seen. It had two hearts combined together with opals incrested all over it. "Oh my god Ethan it is beautiful, and it is my birthstone but how could you afford this now" she asked him "a few back room card games" he said and he kissed her "do you like it?" "I love it" she said to him and kissed him with so much fire Ethan could feel it in his toes. "so do you want your present?" she asked him. He pulled her to his lap and said "you are my present, I could not ask for anything more" and he kissed her neck "good answer" she said "but there is something, um under the tree" she could barely speak with Ethan's lips on her neck. She took her free hand and grabbed his present from under the tree and handed it to him. It was a new silver chain for him to wear around his neck along with a deck of brand new designer Ethan Lovett playing cards. "Oh Kristina, these are awesome, how did you get them" "I designed them" she said smiling "seriously?" "yeah, one of our manufacturers helped me out with getting them made, they are the only set in existance. Do you like them?" To answer her he pulled her close to him and kissed her, wrapping his strong arms around her. Kristina could have stayed like that forever but she saw the time "Oh, we need to get moving, we told Liz we would be over early, we have a packed day ahead of us" Ethan groaned and kissed Kristina on the neck again "come on Ethan" she said giggling "can't we just stay here? we don't have to worry about people fighting, secrets being revealed and fake smiles here" he asked her "come on Ethan, this is one of the only holidays that my family does well, trust me, it will be fun" She said as she grabbed his arm and tried to pull him off of the ground. Finally he got up and walked with her to get ready...this day was going to be an experience he thought to himself...


	39. Chapter 39

Christmas at Sonny Corrinthos' house was entertaining as far as Ethan was concerned. Kristina had been right, they knew how to do have a holiday in this house. He had never seen so much food in his life. Sonny had gone all out with the cooking and Olivia had brought pastas and pies. At the table before the food was served Sonny stood and raised his glass "I would like to thank all of my family and friends for joining us today to join in the holiday festivities. I would like to welcome Ethan to our family" Kristina laid her hand on top of his under the table, he grabbed it and rubbed her hand with his thumb "he will be marrying my little girl in just five days. Now all you know that I was not for this relationship, I didn't want my little girl to grow up and I thought she could do better than a con man" Lulu grunted under her breath "but I was wrong about Ethan, he has shown time and time again that he loves Kristina and will always protect her, so here is to Ethan" Sonny raises his glass to cheers him "to Ethan" everybody at the table says as they raise their glasses "to Ethan" Kristina said sweetly as she raised her glass than kissed him on the cheek. "Now, Dante has told me that he would like to make an announcement" Sonny started as he saw Dante rise from his chair. Kristina knew what was coming but nobody else did. Dante took in a huge gasp of air and began "Lulu and I have an announcement to make, we are going to be having a baby" Everybody at the table started applauding. Olivia ran around the table to hug Lulu and then Dante and Sonny walked over to him and gave him a hug as well. "I am going to be a Grandfather" Sonny said with a half proud, half freaked out look on his face. Ethan got up out of his chair and walked over to Lulu "this is great news Sis" he said as he hugged her "it is isn't it?" she said to him. All of a sudden the happy family time was broken by the sound of yelling and screaming coming from the living room. She could hear Kate and Carly going at it about something. Kristina just smiled and went back to drinking her drink. Ethan sat down beside of her "shouldn't somebody go and see what is going on out there" he whispered in her ear. "nope, my Dad will go out in a minute, this is normal" Kristina said still smiling. "Crazy family" he said back to her "yep, and you are marrying into it, so any second thoughts you better say them now" she said with her eyebrow raised. He brought her hand up to his face and kissed it "you will not get rid of me that easily" he said with a sly smile on his face "good" she said back "it would take me too long to break somebody else in before New years Eve" she said smiling at him "oh bite your tongue" he whispered back to her as she giggled. He kissed her on the cheek and then looked around. Lulu and Dante were sitting there with Olivia gushing over them. Molly was talking to Sam who was holding baby Danny. Alexis was talking to Diane about some lawyer stuff and Michael and Morgan were holding Joss and trying to figure out what this years fight was all about. Jason had walked back over and sat beside Sam and took baby Danny from her. She walked over and sat beside Kristina and Ethan. "So are you two ready for the big day?" she asked them "I have never been more ready for anything" Kristina said to her with her eyes beaming. They heard more yelling and some glass shattering from the living room. Sam rolled her eyes and looked at Ethan "well how about you? Are you ready to become a member of this mixed up family?" He looked at Kristina with love in his eyes "being alone for as long as I was, I am looking forward to having tons of family, but mostly I am looking forward to being married to this woman" "Good answer Ethan" Sam said with a chuckle "you have a keeper here" she said to Kristina as she got back up. Ethan and Kristina just smiled at each other, then they heard more glass breaking and broke out laughing...


	40. Chapter 40

The remaining days to the wedding went by in a blur for Kristina and Ethan. Tonight was the night before the wedding and Johnny and Sam had decided to hold joint bachelor/bachelorette parties. The Haunted Star had been decorated in pictures of Ethan and Kristina, along with 50 million balloons and streamers. When Ethan and Kristina walked in there errupted a great cheer. Lulu walked up to the stage and took the mic "welcome everybody to the bachelor/bachelorette parties for my brother Ethan Lovett and my soon to be sister Kristina Davis. Let's get this party started!" she yelled as the band started playing. Starr sang first and Kristina just watched as Michael starred at her. She was so happy for him, that he had found somebody to love. Kristina was having a great time talking to Lulu and Sam when Johnny said in the mic "Ok, listen up people. Kristina, I need you to sit in this chair in the middle of the dance floor please" Kristina just looked around "go ahead" Lulu told her. Kristina got up and walked to the chair "it is not going to bite Kristina" Johnny said laughing. Kristina sat down and looked for Ethan, but she could not find him. "Ok, Ladies and Gentleman, for your listening pleasure Ethan Lovett" Ethan came walking out from behind the stage with a huge cheesy grin on his face. He took the mic from Johnny and walked down off of the stage to stand in front of Kristina. "Kristina Davis, I love you and this is for you" he gestured toward the band and they started playing "Till My Last Day" by Justin Moore. Kristina didn't know that Ethan had a country side to him. The first words were "People say I'm just a ruff boy, I aint no good for you girl" Kristina started to giggle as Ethan sang her the whole song never taking his hand from hers. When the song ended, the entire room burst into applause. Ethan bent down and kissed Kristina on the cheek.

/

Kristina had decided that they were not to spend the last night together before the wedding, so she stayed at Alexis' house. Sam and the baby came over as well. Ethan stayed at Johnny's as did Dim. Ethan was all thumbs trying to button his shirt that morning. "let me do that" Johnny said to him. Ethan had on a black tux, a black shirt and a pale pink tie to match Kristina's belt on her dress. His hair was pulled back in a low ponytail and his trusty chain wallet in his pocket. "so are you ready for this?" Dim asked him. "of course I am ready for this" he said as there was a knock on the door. "Come in" Johnny yelled and Lulu came thru the door. "Hey brother" she said with a huge smile on her face "I have a surprise for you" Ethan looked at her, he knew that smirk, that was the Spencer smirk "what kind of surprise?" he asked. Lulu walked back over to the door and opened it. In walked Luke, Lucky and Holly. Ethan almost fell out of his chair "Oh my god, what in the hell?" he said as he got up and hugged Holly and then Lucky and then Luke. "well Dodge, I had decided that your wedding could not go on without your mother and your brother so I set off to find them. Wasn't easy but I tracked them both down" Ethan hugged Luke again "ok enough with this mushyness" Luke said as he pulled him off of him but still smiling. Holly walked up to Ethan "oh my boy, I am so happy for you" she said as she kissed his cheek. "Can I meet Kristina before the wedding?" she asked more looking at Lulu than Ethan. "Sure, I will take you to her room" she said to Holly "oh by the way Dodge, you are marrying on loyal firecracker" Luke told Ethan "what do you mean?" "well I had two nasty voice mails left for me while I was on my mission, 1 from your loving sister over there that called me a few names for leaving my son before his wedding" he said as he put his arm around Lulu "and the other was from your future wife. She told me in no uncertain terms that I was to be here for your wedding" Ethan just started smiling "yeah that sounds about right"...

/

Lulu and Holly made their way to Kristina's room. When Lulu knocked, she heard Sam say "who is it?" "Lulu" "come on in" When Lulu walked in she could not believe how beautiful Kristina looked. The dress was strapless with a heart neckline, the pink bow set off her brown eyes and the skirt was layers and layers of tule. Kristina had left her hair down in tons of loose curls on her head and her veil was made of white lace that layed on her head. She had put on the opal necklace that Ethan had bought her for Christmas as the colors matched her dress. "Wow" Lulu said "you look beautiful Kristina" "thanks Lulu" she said then she noticed Holly had walked in "Kristina, this is Holly Sutton, Ethan's birth mother, Holly this is Kristina Davis" "Oh My Goodness, It is so nice to meet you" Kristina said as she ran to Holly and hugged her "How did you know about this?" "Well Luke found me and Lucky" "what" Kristina broke in looking at Lulu "Luke is back?" Lulu smiled wider "yep, he and Lucky are with Ethan right now" Kristina's heart lept "oh thank goodness" she said "Oh I heard you and I both left messages for Luke, good job girl" Lulu said smiling at her. Before she could say anymore Alexis spoke up "ok not to break this up, but my little girl needs to get ready to marry" and she started crying. "We will see you out there" Lulu and Holly said as they left the room. Kristina just looked at her mother and smiled...


End file.
